Ericsson signs $30 million expansion contract with Shandong PTA.

STOCKHOLM, Sweden--(BUSINESS WIRE)--December 17, 1996--Ericsson has recently signed a GSM expansion contract with the Shandong Post and Telecommunications Administration (PTA) in the Shandong province, China. The contract value is $30.7 million and with this expansion the GSM network in the Shandong province will have a total capacity of 500,000 subscribers.

In May 1995, the first contract was signed between Shandong PTA and Ericsson, when the province chose Ericsson as the sole supplier for its digital cellular GSM network. Since then, a total of four expansions have been contracted with the total order value reaching USD 108 million.

The Shandong province is located on China's east coast and is one of the three most populous and economically prosperous provinces of the country.

Shandong and Vestmanland are sister-provinces and for that reason several Swedish companies are interested in widening existing good relations. Ericsson has, as the first of them, established themselves in the provincial capital of Jinan since 1995.

China has developed into Ericsson's second largest market globally. Ericsson has more than 2,800 employees based in China, 13 offices in different parts of the country, and nine joint ventures which provide solutions and services in public, private and mobile telecommunications and components.

Ericsson has supplied GSM systems to 49 countries, and is the leading supplier of GSM equipment world-wide.

Ericsson's 90,000 employees are active in more than 130 countries. Their combined expertise in switching, radio and networking makes Ericsson the world leading supplier in telecommunications.

CONTACT: KATHY EGAN, LARS JONSTEG, 212/685-4030