Ericsson is to invest US$1.5 billion in South Korea over the next five years on development of an R&D centre focused on green technology and next-generation mobile communications. A statement from South Korea’s presidential office yesterday noted that the world’s largest mobile network vendor will also increase the number of its employees in the country from 80 to 1,000. The plan was announced during South Korean president Lee Myung-bak’s visit to Sweden and at his meeting with Ericsson CEO-elect Hans Vestberg.

Lee said South Korea’s government is determined to provide a level playing field for foreign businesses to compete with local rivals. South Korea is at the forefront of global developments in next-generation mobile communication technology. It is a backer of mobile WiMAX (having launched a version known as WiBro) but is also expected to heavily push LTE technology. LTE will likely become the next-generation technology of choice for the majority of the world’s mobile operators, and is supported by Ericsson.