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Carolina West Wireless Signs Multi-Year Network Modernization Deal With Ericsson

Carolina West Wireless, the premier wireless carrier in western North Carolina, announced it has signed a multi-year network modernization deal with Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC).

Under the agreement, Ericsson will provide Carolina West Wireless with its Ericsson Fast VoLTE Launch solution building on IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) to enable the carrier to offer HD voice over LTE (VoLTE), Wi-Fi calling, and future-enriched communication services on different devices across LTE, Wi-Fi and future 5G access.

The agreement also includes a plan designed for the densification, expansion and upgrade of Carolina West Wireless’ network whereby Ericsson will provide 3GPP standards-based 5G New Radio (NR) hardware and software capabilities to allow Carolina West Wireless to deploy 5G when ready.

Slayton Stewart, Chief Executive Officer of Carolina West Wireless, says: “Ericsson has a field-proven VoLTE solution, and we’re making the investments today that will help us evolve our networks tomorrow. Ericsson has been a long-standing partner of ours, and their end-to-end 5G-ready solution offerings allow us to provide our customers with the most advanced technology.”

Rob Johnson, Head of Customer Unit Regional Carriers for Ericsson North America, says: “Carolina West Wireless is certainly taking a strategic approach to VoLTE investments while keeping an eye on shifting to 5G in the most efficient way possible. Their upgrade to an IMS core, in order to deliver VoLTE services, will certainly provide a higher-quality experience for the end user while streamlining their network operations.”

With VoLTE in place in the network, consumers will enjoy more flexible and easy-to-use communication services integrated on a multitude of devices, which will work seamlessly when users move between different accesses like LTE and Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi calling enables operator voice services to be provided in more locations, such as indoor environments by complementing macro network coverage.

In 2018, Carolina West Wireless announced an agreement to use Ericsson’s cloud-based Network Management as a Service solution to offload end-to-end management of monitoring, troubleshooting, configuration and optimization of their network.