Ericsson, in collaboration with Qualcomm Incorporated, will demonstrate evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Services (eMBMS) at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2012 in Barcelona.

eMBMS is a highly efficient means of broadcasting content to multiple users simultaneously, utilizing LTE networks. This emerging broadcast technology for LTE has the potential to greatly reduce the cost for distribution of popular multimedia content - both for streaming as well as for content delivered during off-peak hours, stored in mobile device memory, and accessed at a time of the user's choosing.

By introducing eMBMS, operators can make better use of their available spectrum and free up network capacity. In this way, operators will be able to maximize efficiency when offering services such as live TV, video on demand, podcasts and even software upgrades to a large number of mobile devices and set-top boxes.

eMBMS may be particularly useful during live events, such as music concerts or sports events, where millions of consumers are simultaneously viewing the same content, and where eMBMS could be used to broadcast complementary content, like different camera angels for instance, to users of LTE devices.

Johan Wibergh, Executive Vice President, Business Unit Networks, at Ericsson, says: "Ericsson has collaborated with operators, Qualcomm, and a number of other companies in the ecosystem in the development of eMBMS and we are happy to see momentum gathering behind this emerging technology."

Peggy Johnson, Qualcomm's Executive Vice President and President of Global Market Development, says, "We believe that eMBMS will become a key component in addressing the exponential growth in mobile multimedia and application download traffic. Our focus is now on integrating the full eMBMS capability and service enablers in our LTE chipset product portfolio, paving the way for upcoming commercial eMBMS deployments."

With this initiative, Ericsson continues to demonstrate its technology leadership within the area of Mobile Broadband by extending the set of basic LTE capabilities and allowing for the provisioning of broadcast together with unicast services. Global commercial products supporting eMBMS are expected to be released to the market in 2014.