LG-Ericsson USA launched its brand into the North American market today to serve the data and voice markets for SMBs and large enterprises.
In February, LG-Nortel and Accton Technology Corp. announced a joint venture to deliver voice and data solutions to the North American business market under the name Edgecore Networks Inc.
As part of that joint venture, LG-Nortel owned 60 per cent of the company and Accton Group owned the remaining 40 per cent. Edgecore Networks served as the tentative name of the company which was most recently a subsidiary of Accton Technology said Keith Alexis, general manager of Edgecore Networks. While under the wings of Accton Technology, Edgecore Networks served as the company’s networking division.
Now, with Ericsson’s $1.13 billion acquisition of Nortel’s wireless equipment unit, LG-Ericsson was formed on June 30, 2010 as a joint venture between Ericsson and LG-Electronics.
Tony Stramandanoli, vice-president of marketing for LG-Ericsson USA, said the team in the U.S., which is also responsible for Canada, is just under 50 people, with regional sales employees also located throughout the country.
The company will sell enterprise-class switches, voice products, unified communications and IP telephony solutions. Its products will be distributed across North America by these five distributors: Ingram Micro, Tech Data, Synnex, D&H and Bell Micro. Next up for the company’s distribution plans is to sign on with a regional, voice-specific distributor in the country, Stramandanoli said. Once this is complete, he said LG-Ericsson USA will hire a minimum of two territory managers in Canada who will be based in home offices and supported through the Irvine office.
While the company has an existing channel partner program, Stramandanoli said it’s being “revamped” to include more services. The new program, which will be out sometime next month, wil’ include cash rebates, deal registration and training.
“The products will be stocked (by distribution) by the end of this month,” Stramandanoli said. “The differentiation for us is the complete solution. Partners can help with small voice installations to larger ones and can also help top-end SMBs with data, WiFi and building infrastructure.”
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