Ericsson powers Spark New Zealand's IT transformation

Spark deploys Ericsson Service Agility Suite to reengineer IT platforms with positive results for New Zealand customers

Ericsson's inventory management, product catalogue and order management systems helping to deliver pre-paid mobile services

OSS transformation program designed to enable faster introduction and delivery of all Spark products

Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) today announced that Spark New Zealand, the leading telecom operator in New Zealand, has deployed Ericsson Service Agility Suite to reengineer its IT platforms to achieve agility improvements. At the Ericsson OSS/BSS Summit 2014 being held October 28 - 30 in New York, Dr. Claire Barber, General Manager of Change and Technology for Spark, detailed how the rollout has resulted in faster delivery of prepaid mobile services, affirming the operator's commitment to customers.

In order to meet the growing needs of subscribers and the increases in data traffic, operators must become more agile with the ability to be flexible, fast and in complete control of their business. As a result, operators turn to operations support systems to help them effectively scale networks and services, and to continue to deliver on customer expectations.

Around the world, leading operators such as Spark are reviewing and updating the processes and systems they use to launch and deliver services. This work is being done with a strong focus on better customer engagement and improved experiences. Spark is transitioning from telecom-defined to customer-defined interactions with a simplified product portfolio and approach. As a result, they can automate thousands of processes and simplify those that must remain manual.

Dr. Claire Barber says: "Our Re-engineering Program has reduced multiple overlapping products and automated hundreds of manual processes, leading to improvements in new service rollout and more effective cost utilization. As part of Ericsson Service Agility Suite, Ericsson Catalog Manager gives us one of the modular components we needed to realize our plan."

"With the Ericsson solution, we hope to be able to better utilize assets and automate a number of service delivery functions to provide significant operational efficiencies. Our driving aim of the process is to better manage our network and customer services in order to continue to improve customer engagement and experience," Dr. Barber says.

Elisabetta Romano, Vice President and Head of OSS and Service Enablement, Business Unit Support Solutions, Ericsson, says: "The pre-integrated product catalog and order management systems included in Ericsson Service Agility Suite, are essential building blocks for Spark's IT operations update.  A sophisticated catalog manager has been key to helping our customers simplify new product and service creation from re-usable product, service and resource components. Catalog-driven operations allow them to quickly create offerings, drive sales and manage fulfillment processes with lower costs and higher reliability."

Operators must become agile as they support services across networks, offer a range of plans and push the limits of innovation. Ericsson helps customers meet changing demands with a comprehensive, unified OSS and BSS product suite that combines business, IT and network capabilities. A team of more than 64,000 service professionals supports these offerings with services such as consulting and systems integration, managed services; product related services and broadcast services. Ericsson's market leadership is underscored by the company's breakthrough work with customers to improve the subscriber experience, capture new revenues and boost business efficiencies. As a result, Ericsson remains positioned for ongoing success, driven by the continually surging demand for data services.

NOTES TO EDITORS

Ericsson OSS/BSS Summit 2014

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Ericsson is the driving force behind the Networked Society - a world leader in communications technology and services. Our long-term relationships with every major telecom operator in the world allow people, businesses and societies to fulfill their potential and create a more sustainable future.

Our services, software and infrastructure - especially in mobility, broadband and the cloud- are enabling the telecom industry and other sectors to do better business, increase efficiency, improve the user experience and capture new opportunities.

With more than 110,000 professionals and customers in 180 countries, we combine global scale with technology and services leadership. We support networks that connect more than 2.5 billion subscribers. Forty percent of the world's mobile traffic is carried over Ericsson networks. And our investments in research and development ensure that our solutions - and our customers - stay in front. 

Founded in 1876, Ericsson has its headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden. Net sales in 2013 were SEK 227.4 billion (USD 34.9 billion). Ericsson is listed on Nasdaq OMX stock exchange in Stockholm and the NASDAQ in New York.

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