It seems Ericsson is doing really well. The world’s largest wireless networks maker plans to invest $1.5 billion in South Korea over the next five years.

According to reports, Ericsson will set up a research center in South Korea to develop environmentally friendly and so-called fourth-generation wireless technologies, said Carl-Henric Svanberg, Chief Executive Office.

The company plans to increase the number of employees at its South Korean unit to 1,000 from 80. This is some good news as all telecoms companies have fired thousands of people and South Korea who mainly exports high-tech is very affected.

According to Bloomberg, the $1.5 billion investment is expected to boost South Korea’s competitiveness in the market for long-term evolution or LTE, high-speed wireless technology.

LG, Asia’s second-largest mobile phone maker said it developed a faster wireless chip used in mobile phones based on the technology. The LTE market will be bigger than that of the rival WiMax technology, Bloomberg writes.

Samsung, on the other hand, said it expects to increase network equipment sales as more operators begin deploying the mobile WiMax wireless high-speed Internet service.