Ericsson is planning to invest approximately USD 1.06 billion in the coming five years to build three global ICT Centers.
Ericsson's customers in the Middle East region, and across the globe, will be able to connect remotely for testing and trials, giving them early access on new business services in real-time from any location.
The centers, two of which will be in Sweden and one in Canada, will be located close to Ericsson's main research and development (R&D) hubs. They will be the new platform for Ericsson's R&D engineers around the world, supporting their ways of working.
Anders Lindblad, President for Ericsson, Region Middle East, says: "Ericsson's increased investment in R&D is crucial to enable faster innovation in the market and to continue supporting our customers and cater them with the right innovation to bring the Networked Society to life in the Middle East."
The three ICT Centers combined will be up to 120,000 square meters, approximately the size of 14 football fields. The new centers will house the company's complete portfolio.
The two ICT Centers in Stockholm and Link?ping, Sweden, will begin initial operations from the end of 2013 and from the end of 2014 respectively. The North American ICT Center in Montreal, Canada, will begin operations from early 2015.
Ericsson has its biggest R&D hub located in Sweden with more than 9,000 employees. Other bigger R&D sites are in China, US, Canada and Hungary. In 2012, Ericsson's R&D expenditures were USD 4.95 billion, reflecting around 14 percent of sales.
