Ericsson-LG CEO Hakkan Cervell speaks during a press conference at the company’s research and development center in southwestern Seoul on April 28, 2021. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, April 28 (Korea Bizwire) — The chief of Ericsson-LG, a telecom equipment joint venture between Sweden-based Ericsson and South Korea’s LG Electronics Inc., said Wednesday that there will be no impact to its business even after the local tech giant’s planned exit from its loss-making handset business.
LG Electronics said earlier this month that it would no longer produce and sell handsets after July 31, casting uncertainty over the joint venture.
Ericsson currently owns a 75 percent stake in the company, which launched in 2010, while LG Electronics holds the rest.
Ericsson-LG CEO Hakan Cervell flatly rejected that there would be changes to the company’s business structure from LG’s move.
“The focus for the Ericsson-LG business has always been on mobile infrastructure and it has not been on handsets,” Cervell said during a press conference in Seoul.
“This will not have any impact on our business and we will continue with the business we are doing to support the (telecom) operators in Korea.”
“Maybe there are some talents we would like to acquire in our company but from a business perspective, (there is) no impact.”
The comments come as Ericsson-LG aims to boost its presence here against rival equipment vendors Nokia, Samsung Electronics Co. and Huawei Technologies Co. as the country accelerates its rollout of 5G networks.
Cervell confirmed that the company is currently in the process of swapping Nokia’s telecom equipment with its own for local top mobile carrier SK Telecom Co. in the eastern Gangwon Province.
He added that there are discussions with other telecom operators to swap equipment, without elaborating.
South Korea aims to establish nationwide 5G coverage by next year, with coverage currently focused in major cities.
As of end-February, there were 13.66 million 5G users in the country, accounting for around 19 percent of total mobile users.
(Yonhap)
