Maybe Erickson will bid for Ascend. This from a Swedish paper>
Ericsson to catch
Internet wave
Helen Ahlbom
Major changes are in store for
telecommunications equipment
manufacturer Ericsson, according to
chief executive Sven-Christer Nilsson. A
new corporate organization will be
announced in the fall, as well as a
decision about the location of the
company's headquarters.
"We are about to enter an entirely new
world. Internet will be a part of
everything we do in the future," says Mr.
Nilsson.
And Nilsson is convinced that Ericsson
will be one of the leaders in the field.
"We have learned to sail before, and we
can do it again," Nilsson said at a
conference held in the Stockholm
archipelago over the weekend.
His conviction that Ericsson will be able
to catch the Internet wave is based on the
company's historical succcess in making
similar technological transitions: from
analog to digital telephone exchanges, for
example, and from fixed to mobile
telephones.
Acquisitions to come
Nilsson does not wish to discuss which
new companies and partners will
comprise Ericsson's crew when it blasts
off into Cyberspace.
Instead, he reiterates that Ericasson needs
to complement its competence in data
communications, and expresses
displeasure about speculation in the press
about which computer firm Ericsson will
eventually acquire.
Nilsson denies speculation in the press
that Ericsson's board of directors has tied
his hands by opposing a deal which
would require a stock payment.
"There is absolutely no resistance of that
sort," says Nilsson.
Nilsson says that computer firm Jurie,
which was acquired by competitor Lucent
recently for USD 1 billion, would not
have provided value for money.
"I spoke with Jurie a half year ago but the
price was too high. Just think how many
engineers we could employ for USD 1
billion," comments Ericsson's Gunnar
Wranne, in charge of acquisitions and
alliances in the computer sector.
All aboard the Internet
Sven-Eric Nilsson says Internet
telephoney will be a new market for
Ericsson. He expects this market to grow
by 150 percent per year and be worth up
to SEK 80 billion by the year 2000.
"We will take a significant part of that
market," says the Ericsson chief
executive.
Copyright c Dagens Industri 1997/98
Regards
Neil |
