TANDBERG Television to Provide HD MPEG-4 AVC Encoders for NBC's Coverage of the Beijing Olympic Games

TANDBERG Television, part of the Ericsson Group (NASDAQ:ERIC), has been selected to provide TANDBERG MPEG-4 AVC video processing solutions to NBC during the network’s coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics from Beijing, China August 8-24. This is the first Olympics where MPEG-4 AVC will be used for HD content contribution and NBC will deploy a variety of TANDBERG Television products at the International Broadcast Center (IBC) in Beijing and in the US including HD encoders, professional receiver/decoders, multiplexers, modulators, IP adapters and other control equipment.

"Preparing for this major event required us to make very careful equipment, vendor and solution choices," said Dave Mazza, Senior Vice President, NBC Olympics Engineering. "Selecting TANDBERG Television for this project was easy. Their rock solid contribution and distribution products and the expertise of their team members allow us to continually raise the bar and provide our viewer's with exceptional picture quality."

NBC's HD coverage, sent to the United States via NBC's contribution network, will be encoded by TANDBERG Television EN8090 HD MPEG-4 AVC encoders. The raw video and audio feeds captured at the events will be transported from the IBC to the NBC studios for US Distribution, before post-production. The contribution feeds sent from NBC Universal to its cable affiliates will be compressed by TANDBERG Television encoders and delivered via MPEG-2 to the cable head-ends.

"NBC will offer the most in-depth Olympic coverage in history, and we are honored to support them as they embark on this unprecedented project," said Eric Cooney President and CEO of TANDBERG Television. "We look forward to working with NBC to deliver an outstanding broadcast of the Beijing Olympic Games to millions of viewers across the US."

TANDBERG Television's EN8090 MPEG-4 AVC HD Encoders

The EN8090 MPEG-4 AVC HD encoders chosen for the HD contribution feeds from Beijing use Intelligent Compression Engine technology featuring Clarus™ video pre-processing, with enhanced noise reduction, artifact removal and improved filtering. They redefine the economics of HD transmission and provide major improvements in picture quality, offering crisp, vibrant video at extremely low bit-rates. New image-enhancing techniques such as single-slice video processing architecture, multi-pass analysis and forward-looking encoding also improve efficiencies and reduce bandwidth usage. Combined with TANDBERG Television’s Reflex™ statistical multiplexing, the EN8090 can achieve significant efficiency improvements over previous generations of MPEG-4 AVC HD. Visit http://www.tandbergtv.com/productview.ink?productid=1313 for more information about the EN8090 encoders.

About NBC Olympics

NBC, “America's Olympic Network,” owns the exclusive U.S. media rights to the Olympic Games, television’s most powerful property, through 2012, which includes Beijing in 2008, Vancouver in 2010 and London in 2012. From August 8-24, 2008 NBC Universal will present an unprecedented 3,600 hours of coverage, highlighted by NBC in primetime with live swimming, gymnastics and beach volleyball. In August 2004, 203 million viewers watched as the networks of NBC Universal—NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, USA, Bravo, Telemundo, and NBC’s HD affiliates—offered a then record 1,210 hours of Olympic coverage from Athens.

For additional information, go to NBCOlympics.com, a year-round destination for fans of Olympic sports, featuring news, Beijing previews, athlete features, expert blogs, photos, Olympic video from the NBC archives and social tools enabling users to build communities around their favorite sports, post comments and blogs.

About TANDBERG Television

TANDBERG Television, part of the Ericsson Group (NASDAQ:ERIC), delivers the multimedia technology and expertise that is moving digital video forward. Whether it's advanced compression systems, on-demand or content distribution, the company's award-winning solutions are used by the world's leading broadcasters, operators and programmers to deliver new viewer experiences and advertising opportunities. With a broad suite of open, standards-based products, TANDBERG Television offers the highest quality solutions for Digital TV, HDTV, VOD, and IPTV. For more information, please visit www.tandbergtv.com

About Ericsson

Ericsson is the world's leading provider of technology and services to telecom operators. The market leader in 2G and 3G mobile technologies, Ericsson supplies communications services and manages networks that serve more than 195 million subscribers. The company’s portfolio comprises mobile and fixed network infrastructure, and broadband and multimedia solutions for operators, enterprises and developers. The Sony Ericsson joint venture provides consumers with feature-rich personal mobile devices.

Ericsson is advancing its vision of ‘communication for all’ through innovation, technology, and sustainable business solutions. Working in 175 countries, more than 70,000 employees generated revenue of USD 27.9 billion (SEK 188 billion) in 2007. Founded in 1876 and headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, Ericsson is listed on OMX Nordic Exchange Stockholm and NASDAQ.

For more information, visit www.ericsson.com or www.ericsson.mobi.