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TELEVISION

Ericsson to buy internet TV unit from Microsoft

Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson said Monday it had agreed to buy Microsoft's internet protocol television (IPTV) business Media Room for an undisclosed sum.

Ericsson to buy internet TV unit from Microsoft

“This will make Ericsson the leading provider of IPTV and multi-screen solutions with a market share of over 25 percent,” the Stockholm-based company said in a statement.

Media Room, which develops software mobile carriers use to deliver television over the Internet, said on its website its clients include “more than 40 of the world’s leading operators”, including US-listed AT&T and Germany’s Deutsche Telekom.

Ericsson said the global market for IPTV was expected to reach 76 million subscribers this year and that revenue was forecast to grow from an estimated $32 billion in 2013 to $45 billion in 2015.

Media Room is based in Mountain View, California and employs more than 400 people around the world.

The deal was subject to regulatory approval and was expected to close in the first half of this year, Ericsson said.

AFP/The Local/dl

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SWEDEN AND UKRAINE

Ericsson suspends all Russia operations indefinitely

Swedish network equipment maker Ericsson said Monday that it was suspending all of its Russian operations over the war in Ukraine for the foreseeable future.

Ericsson suspends all Russia operations indefinitely

The telecom giant already announced in late February that it would stop all deliveries to Russia following Moscow’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine.

“In the light of recent events and of European Union sanctions, the company will now suspend its affected business with customers in Russia indefinitely,” Ericsson said in a statement.

The company added that it was “engaging with customers and partners regarding the indefinite suspension of the affected business.”

“The priority is to focus on the safety and well-being of Ericsson employees in Russia and they will be placed on paid leave,” it said.

READ ALSO: How has Sweden responded to Putin’s war in Ukraine so far?

Hundreds of Western firms ranging from Ikea to Coca-Cola, Goldman Sachs and McDonald’s have stopped operations in the country since the invasion, with French banking group Societe Generale announcing Monday it was selling its stake in Russia’s Rosbank.

Ericsson has around 600 employees in Russia, and is a “major supplier to the largest operator MTS and the fourth largest operator Tele2,” a company spokeswoman told AFP, adding that together with Ukraine, Russia accounts for less than two percent of revenue.

As a result, the equipment maker said it would record a provision for 900 million Swedish kronor ($95 million, 87 million euros) for the first quarter of 2022 for “impairment of assets and other exceptional costs,” though no staff redundancy costs were included.
Ericsson is due to publish its first quarter earnings on April 14.

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