Ericsson, Cisco in partnership to create networks

The world's biggest networks provider, Ericsson, has announced a strategic partnership with another industry leader, Cisco, to create "networks of the future."

Sweden-based Ericsson says the business and technology partnership including networking, cloud and mobility services, is expected to generate more than $1 billion in business for each company by 2018 and synergy savings of 1 billion kronor ($115 million) in 2018.

It gave no details of a financial transaction.

Ericsson CEO Hans Vestberg on Monday described the pact as "a key step forward" in transforming and strengthening the company.

Ericsson and Cisco, which have some 56,000 patents and have spent $11 billion in research and development, have more than 76,000 employees in more than 180 countries.

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