Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) and Motorola (NYSE:MOT) forged an alliance to deliver LTE solutions to first responders. The two companies will try to bring their expertise to bear on the nascent public-safety LTE market.
Under the deal, Ericsson will provide LTE equipment--including packet core and related services--and combine that with Motorola Solutons' public-safety-optimized LTE core. Motorola also will provide devices, video security and command and control solutions for first responders. The two vendors did not disclose the financial terms of the deal.
Motorola has taken a lead in the U.S. in delivering public-safety mobile broadband solutions. In July the company won a contract for the first phase of a private 700 MHz LTE network buildout for first responders in the San Francisco Bay Area. Motorola received a $50.6 million federal broadband stimulus award to help build the network.
Despite the growing market for regional LTE networks for first responders, there is a still a logjam over how best to create a nationwide, interoperable public-safety broadband network using the D Block of the 700 MHz band. Public-safety groups are pressing Congress to allocate the spectrum directly to first responders, while the FCC is still advocating a re-auction of the spectrum. Still, advances are being made. Last week, Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE:ALU) said it completed what the vendor said was the first data call using an LTE network operating on the 700 MHz spectrum reserved for public-safety use in the U.S.
In other Ericsson news, the company acquired certain assets of inCode's Strategy and Technology Group for an undisclosed sum. Ericsson is getting 45 employees in the deal with the IT consulting company. InCode was bought by VeriSign in 2006 but became independent again in 2008 via a management buyout.
For more:
- see this release
- see this NYT release
- see this inCode release
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