Ericsson goes home to manage Telenor Sweden online gaming

Vestberg, Ericsson CEO

By Prince Osuagwu

Ericsson last week announced the signing of a major managed services contract with Telenor Sweden , provider of data and telecommunication services. The three-year contract would see Ericsson managing and developing Telenor Sweden 's field services, including field maintenance and implementation services across its complete fixed and mobile networks.
Ericsson also hopes that through the deal, it will gain valuable competence in the service area and reinforce its services footprint in Sweden and its long-term service commitment in the region.
Meanwhile, with Ericsson’s IMS solution fully poised to play major role in the deal, players of Entropia, an online universe created by Sweden-based online gaming company Mindark, can now speak to each other live with high-quality voice services while gaming.
This is however Ericsson's first commercial business in the gaming sphere. Ericsson is deploying its existing voice technology based on IMS in a cloud service, called Ericsson In-Game Communication, EIGC, which makes it simple and cost-effective to introduce communication into games. Ericsson promises to provide and integrate the software into the Entropia Universe platform.
Mindark provides one of the most advanced Internet interaction solutions available today. Entropia Universe is a 3D virtual world with a real cash economy. It is growing in popularity, with more than one million registered users.
Chief Marketing Officer for Mindark, Christian Björkman , says that “it was important to have a system that is integrated into our own platform because then we could customize the functionality and have security that is required for us, since we deal with real money in our virtual world. The solution from Ericsson provided the best security and flexibility for us”.
With this service, 3D rendering is possible so that gamers will be able to talk and listen to avatars that are nearby, attend or give lectures for an interactive audience, and work in teams with secure leader-controlled access.
Mindark is well-known for placing the world's most expensive virtual item in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Perhaps that was why Björkman added that “this voice service will help us continue our strategy of adding value to the virtual world, plus bridging virtual and real-world possibilities and in terms of business, it would be possible to integrate new services such as break-out services, audio advertising and other voice-based services”.
Ericsson’s Vice President, head of Core & IMS however saw it in a different perspective saying that “this solution bridges the virtual experience with reality, and the telecoms world with the gaming world. It is exciting to combine Ericsson's outstanding competence in communication services with the large and fast-growing gaming industry sector."