STOCKHOLM -- Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) and Abentel, an Abengoa (NASDAQ:ABGB) subsidiary, entered an activities transfer agreement, under which Abentel's assets, projects and employees will be transferred to Ericsson, further enhancing its comprehensive end-to-end fiber services offering.

The agreement reinforces Ericsson's leadership position in telecommunication services specifically in Fiber Network Deployment and maintenance, where Ericsson is conducting important projects in different countries.

About 500 services professionals specialized in fiber networks roll-out and maintenance services will join Ericsson, bringing a relevant set of skills to continue expanding in the growing field of fiber-related services.

Bringing together the competence, tools and process of both companies will allow Ericsson to create a global hub for fiber services, from where to continue strengthening its presence in this growing market.

The demand for fiber-optic transmission is rapidly growing to accommodate increasing bandwidth requirements driven by new applications, specifically video services. According to the Ericsson Mobility Report 85 percent of data traffic generated by the use of smartphone video apps goes over Wi-Fi, mainly indoors.

Ericsson AB (Nasdaq: ERIC)