Ericsson announced today its entry in the Volvo Ocean Race 2005. Ericsson, the world’s leading telecommunications supplier, will be on the starting line on November 5, 2005 taking part in the most challenging and competitive ocean sailing race.

The Volvo Ocean Race gives Ericsson an unrivalled opportunity to reach its customers around the world, as well as showcasing how its solutions can help them develop relationships with enterprises and consumers. The yacht will be the only Swedish entry in the line up.

Ericsson will, together with Semcon as design and development partner, form the “Ericsson Racing Team”. The campaign will be supported by Atlant Ocean Racing, which has a proven track record of success in the Volvo Ocean Race. The team’s yacht is currently under construction at the world-renowned British shipwrights Green Marine in Lymington, UK, under the supervision of Jason Carrington. The launch is planned to June 2005.

“With Ericsson we have a truly successful formula,” said Richard Brisius, project leader and founder of Atlant Ocean Racing. “They bring experience and understanding of how to drive complex projects with operational excellence in all aspects and we will have a crew and shore team who are all experts in their field. We have no doubt that the Ericsson Racing Team will be a real contender in this year’s race.”

Ericsson is committed to realising its vision of an all-communicating world. The Volvo Ocean Race allows Ericsson to bring this commitment to life and this team, more than any other, will use technology to take the experience of the race to the global audience.

“The Volvo Ocean Race gives us a strong platform to grow our business,” said Bert Nordberg, Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Ericsson. “It is an opportunity to reach a global audience and demonstrate our expertise and ability to deliver telecommunications solutions to our customers.

“This race is about speed, complex technology, fierce competition and extreme conditions. This mirrors the complexity of our global business. Our core values at Ericsson are professionalism, respect and perseverance, three qualities at the heart of a successful ocean racing team,” Nordberg concluded.

“These are the most extreme mono hulls to ever race around the world,” said Hans Johansson, CEO of Semcon. “We are proud and happy that Ericsson will use our knowledge to create a winning yacht.”

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