Telenor to Use Ericsson's eStore

BARCELONA -- At the 2010 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) launched its eStore, an online application store or marketplace where operators can easily establish themselves and offer mobile-phone users access to their wares. Just one year on, Ericsson is not only launching large operators on the platform, but also delivering a solution to WAC members.

At the WAC press conference at Mobile World Congress 2011, Ericsson President and CEO Hans Vestberg said: "WAC is an operator-driven industry initiative to reach and attract applications developers, and to help operators to commercialize those applications through a branded application store. Ericsson's contribution to this initiative is as the first supplier to provide a white label store, fully integrated with the WAC content catalogue and readily available to WAC member operators to brand and take to market in a very short time."

During 2010, Ericsson made several achievements in the global application store domain. One example is the the cloud-based eStore proposition to the Telenor Group.

"The Telenor deal is a good example of how operators can offer cloud software services to the subscribers," Vestberg said. "It will provide users with new, cool applications of their choice and help operators to create new revenues."

Under its agreement with Ericsson, Telenor will pilot a launch in Serbia with Ericsson's white-label application store connected to WAC - the first white-label store fully integrated into WAC. Ericsson thus becomes the first external vendor to offer a WAC white-label commercial solution, open to consumers. Branding and implementing the storefront was completed in a very short time.

Ericsson AB (Nasdaq: ERIC)