Ericsson and Napster announce two firsts with O2 Ireland

December 12, 2006, Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) and Napster (NASDAQ:NAPS), today announce the first European launch for Napster Mobile, with Irish mobile phone operator O2 Ireland. O2 Ireland is also the first operator to launch Napster Mobile in i-mode.

O2 Ireland customers will be able to search, browse, preview and purchase full-length songs from Napster’s immense catalog and enjoy Ericsson-aggregated personalization content via their i-mode, WAP and Java-enabled wireless handsets.

The service also features a recommendation engine which makes content recommendations based upon each consumer’s musical taste, and dual delivery, a feature that sends a copy of the content purchased on the handset to the customer’s PC. Napster Mobile gives customers access to Napster’s expert programming on the handset, including featured artists and top tracks of the day.

Gerry McQuaid, Commercial Director, O2 Ireland, says: “We are delighted to be the first mobile operator in Europe to launch Napster Mobile. The Napster brand is instantly recognisable as one of the world’s biggest music brands with 2 million tracks available immediately for our i-mode customers. Our customers have asked us for on-line music brands and we are delighted to provide the Napster catalogue as part of our i-mode service.”

John Hennessy, country manager, Ericsson Ireland, says: “We believe that O2 Ireland’s subscribers will find this a very attractive service to use. Music is an important area for telecom operators and now Napster Mobile service with i-mode functionality opens up possibilities for other i-mode operators.”

Brad Duea, Napster’s president, says: “We’re incredibly excited to be partnering with O2 Ireland on the European launch of Napster Mobile and are confident that the mobile service will prove as successful as its online counterpart. With over 3 million available tracks, Napster Mobile gives music fans the freedom to explore the biggest mobile music catalog whenever and wherever they want, making it the perfect extension of Napster’s existing service.”

Ericsson will host, integrate and manage the round-the-clock-operations of the service for O2 Ireland under a managed service agreement.

Hosting is a part of Ericsson’s managed services offering and it is a business model that makes it easy, fast, and cost-efficient for operators to launch the service.

Ericsson is shaping the future of Mobile and Broadband Internet communications through its continuous technology leadership. Providing innovative solutions in more than 140 countries, Ericsson is helping to create the most powerful communication companies in the world.

Read more at http://www.ericsson.com

About O2 Ireland
O2 comprises mobile network operators in the UK and Ireland, along with integrated fixed/mobile businesses in Germany and the Czech Republic. It also owns 50% of the Tesco Mobile and Tchibo Mobilfunk joint venture businesses in the UK and Germany respectively as well as having 100% ownership of Be, a leading UK fixed broadband provider. In addition, the group includes O2 Airwave, which supplies secure digital communications to the emergency services and other public safety organizations.

In Ireland O2 is a leading provider of mobile services, offering communications solutions to 1.6 million customers in Ireland. With offices in Dublin, Cork, Galway and Limerick, O2 Ireland has a total workforce of over 1,700 employees. In 2006, O2 Ireland was named the best company to work for in Ireland and one of the 10 best companies to work for in Europe.

About Napster
Napster, the pioneer of digital music, offers the ultimate interactive music experience. With an expanding roster of offerings including free, web-based music listening and sharing, subscription and portable subscription services, and an advanced mobile music platform, Napster creates better ways to discover, share, acquire and enjoy music - anytime, anywhere. Napster’s headquarters are in Los Angeles, with offices in New York, London, Frankfurt and Tokyo.

About Ericsson’s Managed Services offering
Ericsson has the telecom industry’s most comprehensive managed services offerings, ranging from designing, building, operating and managing day-to-day operations of a customer’s network, to hosting service applications and enablers, as well as providing network coverage and capacity on demand. As the undisputed leader in managed services, Ericsson has officially announced more than 100 managed services contracts with operators worldwide since 2002. In all current managed services contracts, excluding hosting, Ericsson is managing networks that together serve 80 million subscribers worldwide.

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Ericsson

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