Ericsson Inc

Ericsson Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of the Swedish telecommunications giant, has received a two-year license from the Federal Communications Commission to conduct tests of a digital wireless PBX system in Anaheim and Washington. The wireless private-branch exchange system is the next generation of telephone switchboards for corporations, said Lars Jonsteg, an Ericsson spokesman. A PBX, usually attended by a human operator, routes calls to extensions within a company or organization.

Ericsson agreed to buy San Jose-based Redback Networks Inc. for $2.1 billion, accelerating competition with Cisco Systems Inc. in the market for Internet routers. The price of $25 a share represents an 18% premium to Redback's Tuesday closing price of $21.17. Redback will retain its management team and operate as a unit of Stockholm-based Ericsson, which is the world's largest maker of wireless-network equipment.

Ericsson Inc.'s long dispute over the county's award of an $82-million emergency communications system contract to rival Motorola will be able to move forward in court, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John E. Ryan ruled Wednesday. Ryan said he was sending Ericsson's request to have a court review the county's bidding process for the communications system to Orange County Superior Court, overruling the objections of county bankruptcy attorneys.

Hewlett-Packard Co. said Friday that it won multibillion-dollar deals with consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble Co. and wireless network gear maker Ericsson, turning up the heat on rival IBM Corp. in the market for computer services. Palo Alto-based HP said the P&G contract was worth $3 billion over 10 years. The terms of the Ericsson deal were not disclosed. Analysts said HP would run Ericsson's entire internal technology operations in a pact also worth billions.

The lengthy dispute over Orange County's $82-million emergency communications system landed in court this week, when the losing supplier asked a Superior Court judge to prevent the county from awarding the contract to its rival. Ericsson Inc. is scheduled to argue for a temporary restraining order at 1:30 p.m. today to stop the county from giving Motorola Communications and Electronics Inc., the contract to build the massive new communications network.

The beleaguered telecommunications industry suffered another blow Monday as wireless equipment manufacturer Ericsson announced 17,000 new layoffs and Lucent Technologies Inc., the world's largest maker of telecom gear, said it would eliminate an additional 6,000 jobs--a rout that is beginning to rival the dot-com meltdown of the last two years. Telecom stocks also were battered by the news that WorldCom Inc., the nation's No. 2 long-distance company, cut its revenue forecast for the year by 5.

Ericsson, the world's No. 3 cellular phone maker, will team up with software maker Oz.com to develop equipment that can combine data and telecommunications services. The Stockholm-based company said the companies will develop technologies based on Internet Protocol, the system that routes most data traffic on corporate networks and the Internet. Ericsson and other phone-equipment makers, such as No. 2 Motorola Inc.

The wireless industry--from equipment makers to carriers and even government trade officials-- breathed a collective sigh of relief last week when phone rivals Ericsson of Sweden and San Diego-based Qualcomm Inc. announced that they had resolved their years-long technology disputes. Their multifaceted agreement headed off a patent infringement trial that had been set to begin soon in Texas, and it clears the way for the selection of a single worldwide standard for wireless technology.

Bozell Worldwide's Southern California office in Costa Mesa has been selected by Ericsson's Brea-based CG Technologies division to handle the advertising launch of its CyberGenie personal computer/cordless phone system. Billings were estimated at $5 million. The system, designed for small offices and home-based businesses, will be launched in late 1999.

Sweden's Ericsson, a leader in wireless technology, announced sweeping changes in its management structure as it changes its approach to customer service to face an international market downturn. The company, which has been especially hard hit in its cell phone division, named Per-Arne Sandstroem to the new role of chief operating officer in charge of a revised product and service structure based on five units for large global customers.

RealNetworks Inc. of Seattle is set to announce today that Ericsson, the leading supplier of equipment for mobile-phone networks, is incorporating the company's technology for transmitting audio and video into its products. No financial terms were disclosed, and the agreement doesn't supersede Ericsson's existing arrangement for wireless multimedia with Sun Microsystems Inc. and Apple Computer Inc.

Nokia, Siemens, Ericsson and NTT DoCoMo Inc. agreed to reduce royalty payments for faster wireless technology to boost their chances of getting chosen by phone companies over San Diego-based Qualcomm Inc. The companies aim to keep royalties related to wideband code-division multiple access technology at less than 5% of the price of the equipment. That's less than companies must pay Qualcomm, which is the most significant single owner of patents for WCDMA and cdma2000, a rival technology.

Telecom equipment maker Ericsson said its sales and orders would fall in the July-September quarter, sending its share price plunging to 10-year lows. But the Swedish firm stood by its forecast of mobile network sales falling more than 15% this year and stabilizing next year. Ericsson also said it would lay off more than 1,000 employees at two Swedish plants.

Ericsson's credit rating was cut by Moody's Investors Service to two steps below investment grade, triggering a drop in the share prices for the Swedish telecommunications equipment giant. * * Tokyo-based electronics maker Fujitsu Ltd. will cut 3,000 jobs, or about 1.8% of its global work force, at two Japanese plants. All the cuts will be carried out through a voluntary early retirement program.

Two years ago, LM Ericsson was Sweden's biggest business, the main private employer, foreign exchange earner and bulwark of the stock exchange. Shares of the wireless equipment company, the world's largest, traded at $24 apiece. Ericsson shares now trade at 73 cents on Nasdaq, and company executives on an eight-nation tour are hard pressed to sell newly issued shares priced at just 40 cents. The downfall has wiped out nearly a decade of growth and burned thousands of investors.

Ericsson's debt was cut to "junk" status by Standard & Poor's Corp., but the Swedish telecommunications equipment giant's shares edged higher, bucking a broad market sell-off, because a danger to its critical $3.13-billion rights offering subsided. The one-notch downgrade appeared for now to eliminate the risk that a deeper cut might force the world's biggest wireless network maker to delay or cancel the offering. Ericsson needs cash to run its wireless equipment business and cut jobs.

Ericsson, the largest maker of equipment for mobile-phone networks, will post its first quarterly loss in nine years as phone companies cut spending and handset sales drop. The Swedish company forecast a first-quarter pretax loss of $406 million to $508 million, with sales unchanged or somewhat lower than a year earlier. In January, Ericsson said it would break even and sales would rise 15%. Ericsson and rivals such as Motorola Inc.

Europe's telecommunications titans continue to struggle with the continent's steep downturn, with two reporting steep losses Tuesday while two others saw their credit ratings cut. London-based Vodafone Group, Europe's largest mobile phone company, said its fiscal first-half loss more than doubled to $14 billion as it wrote down the value of acquisitions from a spending spree.

Telecom equipment maker Ericsson had its credit rating cut to "junk" status by Moody's Investors Service, but the Swedish company said the underwriting of its $3.25-billion new stock issue was not in danger. Moody's cut the Swedish company's long-term debt rating one notch to Ba1 from Baa3, based on the rapid decline in investments by telecommunications carriers and the challenges faced by Ericsson to cut costs quickly.

The beleaguered telecommunications industry suffered another blow Monday as wireless equipment manufacturer Ericsson announced 17,000 new layoffs and Lucent Technologies Inc., the world's largest maker of telecom gear, said it would eliminate an additional 6,000 jobs--a rout that is beginning to rival the dot-com meltdown of the last two years. Telecom stocks also were battered by the news that WorldCom Inc., the nation's No. 2 long-distance company, cut its revenue forecast for the year by 5.