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Refugees United and Ericsson broaden reconnection services with Safaricom and Vodacom

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN — (Marketwired) — 06/20/13 —

* In support of World Refugee Day, the Refugees United reconnection
platform
is now made available to thousands of families via a toll-free line and
a
free simple dial-code application in Kenya with Safaricom, and
Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC) with Vodacom

* Safaricom will support a series of awareness activities, including SMS
campaigns for the two largest refugee camps in Kenya, Dadaab and Kakuma

* Vodacom will launch a new hotline for service assistance in DRC

* Global Hackathon winners to be announced during a Google Hangout
following
developer contests in Cairo, Nairobi and Silicon Valley

With more than 43 million people forcibly displaced globally due to
draught,
conflict, or disaster, the need for a service to reconnect separated
families is
as pressing as ever. Nearly one million displaced people are in Kenya
alone.
Today, Refugees United and Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC), along with Safaricom
and
Vodacom, are taking a groundbreaking step toward reaching the goal of
connecting
one million refugees on the Refugees United platform by 2015.

Using a free dial code and toll-free lines from Safaricom, displaced people
in
Kenya will be able to access the family reconnection platform invented by
Refugees United. Additionally, Vodacom is launching a similar service in
DRC.

Refugees United is a free, mobile and online platform that allows people to
search for missing family members, friends, and relatives on a safe and
anonymous basis. Until now the platform was only accessible via a computer
or
internet-enabled mobile phone. It will now be available through a toll-free
line
and via a simple dial-code system, just like users know it from mobile
banking,
for example.

Christopher Mikkelsen, co-founder of Refugees United, says: “Everyone has
the
right to know where their family is. Thanks to Ericsson and operator
partners
like Safaricom and Vodacom DRC, we can empower refugees to take the search
for
missing loved ones into their own hands. Now, families can simply call our
toll
free line or dial a simple short code from their mobile phone to start the
search for long lost family members or relatives.”

Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore said: “Millions of families have been separated
as
they flee violence and war in their home countries. Refugees United
empowers
separated family members to take the search for missing loved ones into
their
own hands.”

“This initiative has the power to transform the nature of family
reconnection
for generations to come. It is an example of how mobile technology is truly
changing the lives of people on the African continent for good. We are
looking
for innovative ways to get this to scale, and partnerships are key to
success,”
says Elaine Weidman-Grunewald, Vice President, Sustainability and Corporate
Responsibility at Ericsson.

Leveraging the ubiquitous nature of simple mobile phones across Kenya and
DRC,
the new, simple ways of accessing the Refugees United family reconnection
platform will serve many more thousands of families in the search for their
missing loved ones. Ericsson and Refugees United have set a goal to reach
one
million users on the platform by the end of 2015.

In the run-up to World Refugee Day, Ericsson and Refugees United hosted a
Global Hack for Good” in Cairo, Nairobi and Silicon Valley, where
developers
were tasked with a challenge of coding applications to ensure that the
platform
is accessible to families living in refugee camps and remote areas. The
overall
winner of this global Hack for Good will be announced during a Google
Hangout on
June 20th at 15:00 CET.

Join the Hangout here.

NOTES TO EDITORS

About Refugees United

Refugees United, is a tech non-profit with the mission of
reconnecting separated families. The Refugees United service is accessible
via a
computer or any entry-level mobile phone and is free of charge. Users
provide
only the amount of information that they themselves find safe to share,
which
give them the opportunity of staying anonymous. is
available in
multiple languages and contains searchable profiles of more than 180,000
users.

Collaborating with large mobile network operators like Safaricom in Kenya
and
Vodacom in DRC, Refugees United is able to leverage the mobile platform
free of
charge to families in some of the world-s most refugee prone countries.
Refugees
United also collaborates with Kenya Red Cross Society and the UN Refugee
Agency,
UNHCR. Ericsson supports Refugees United as main technology partner.

VIDEO

The Story of Refugees United

The story of Estelle

Download high-resolution photos and broadcast-quality video at

PHOTOS

Ericsson is a world-leading provider of communications technology and
services.
We are enabling the Networked Society with efficient real-time solutions
that
allow us all to study, work and live our lives more freely, in sustainable
societies around the world.

Our offering comprises services, software and infrastructure within
Information
and Communications Technology for telecom operators and other industries.
Today
40 percent of the world-s mobile traffic goes through Ericsson networks and
we
support customers- networks servicing more than 2.5 billion subscriptions.

We are more than 110,000 people working with customers in more than 180
countries. Founded in 1876, Ericsson is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden.
In
2012 the company-s net sales were SEK 227.8 billion (USD 33.8 billion).
Ericsson
is listed on NASDAQ OMX, Stockholm and NASDAQ, New York stock exchanges.

Refugees United and Ericsson broaden reconnection services:

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Source: Ericsson via Thomson Reuters ONE

[HUG#1710780]

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT

Ericsson Corporate Communications
Phone: +46 10 719 69 92
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