Ericcson, Cisco in pact to raise sales revenue by $1 bn each by 2018

Two of the biggest companies whose equipment and technology drive most communications networks today have joined hands.

Under a strategic partnership Ericsson and Cisco have agreed to cooperate from development to delivery of systems for carriers and enterprise customers.

They will collaborate on sales covering virtually the entire range of their respective businesses, including carrier and enterprise equipment and services; intellectual property.

The effort would also extend to routing, data centre, networking, cloud, mobility, management and control, and global services capabilities.

The companies said by 2018 each expected to add $1 billion in revenues as a result of the partnership, without disclosing details. The two companies between them employ 76,000 employees and had operations in over 180 countries.

''Details of specific investment levels made by each partner are confidential,'' a Cisco spokesperson told TechCrunch in response to questions about the financial terms.

An Ericsson spokesperson had further confirmed that there were no investments being made by either company in the other.

While this was a global partnership, both companies have been increasing their focus on India since last year even as they stepped up their investments in the country and firmed up their strategies to leverage the Digital India opportunity.

Cisco generated around $1.1 billion in revenue from India last financial year, and invested $1.7 billion annually in the country, had made more than 25 direct and indirect investments in the country and was ''collaborating with entrepreneurs across India to discover and accelerate the creation and adoption of disruptive technologies as well as new business models around IoE (Internet of Everything)'', Cisco's chief executive-designate Chuck Robbins said in an interview with Mint in June.

For Ericsson, India was the third-largest market by revenues, accounting for 6 per cent of its annual turnover among 180 countries, according to Hans Vestberg, president and chief executive, Ericsson.

The firm had been bullish on 4G rollout in the country, which was expected to up mobile subscriptions and improve mobile internet uptake.