Ericsson Unveils Stadium-Optimized Wi-Fi

STOCKHOLM -- Attending a sports match, concert or other event in a full stadium is a great experience that many people instantly want to share with friends and family, by - for example - uploading videos and photos to social networking sites. But interacting via Facebook, Twitter or SMS during such events can sometimes be tricky - due to the sudden increase in network traffic.

To overcome this issue and offer the most seamless experience for mobile device users at the stadium, Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) has launched a stadium-optimized Wi-Fi solution. This solution consists of two products: the AP 5114 stadium-optimized Wi-Fi access point and the WIC 8000 Wi-Fi controller. Together, they create a Wi-Fi network that is integrated with the mobile network - in keeping with Ericsson's unique approach to heterogeneous networks.

In its Traffic and Market Data report, Ericsson forecasts that mobile data traffic will increase 10-fold between 2011 and 2016, mainly driven by video. This predicted growth, combined with the popularity and ubiquity of Wi-Fi on mobile devices, has created a trend toward operators deploying their own Wi-Fi networks. Given that social networking and video apps are used particularly heavily during major events, mobile traffic in stadiums is especially high. The result is that, from the operators' perspective, stadiums are like very dense metropolitan "villages" that require a wide range of wireless solutions - such as small cells, distributed antenna systems (DAS) and Wi-Fi as a complement to the existing macro network - to address all of the coverage and capacity requirements.

Ericsson AB (Nasdaq: ERIC)