M1 taps Ericsson for backhaul upgrade

Singapore's M1 has selected Ericsson to upgrade its backhaul infrastructure to support the upcoming LTE network.

 

The operator last week revealed plans to launch LTE services on Saturday, with a reach covering 95% of the city-state.

 

Ericsson yesterday announced that it has been chosen to become M1’s primary mobile backhaul provider over the next several years.

 

Under the deal, Ericsson will be providing microwave and optical systems as well as network management solutions from its product portfolio. Deployment has already commenced, the vendor said.

 

M1 CTO Patrick Schodeller said the backhaul upgrade is “essential for us to meet the current and future needs of our end users.”

 

M1 will be coming late to Singapore's LTE party. Rival SingTel launched dongle-only LTE services in December last year, then extended services to smartphones this June and to tablets in August.

 

But if M1 does launch with 95% coverage, it will already have overtaken SingTel. The latter is aiming for 80% coverage by the end of the year, and 95% by 1Q13, according to Singapore's English language newspaper The New Paper.