Sept. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Ericsson AB, the world's largest maker of wireless network equipment, said growth will remain ``strong'' in the third quarter as more clients upgrade their networks to accommodate increased data traffic.

In Ericsson's main network market, growth for all of 2007 will remain at a ``mid-single digit'' level, Chief Executive Officer Carl-Henric Svanberg told investors at a meeting in London today, reiterating an earlier target. Before February, the company had forecast ``moderate'' expansion, which Stockholm- based Ericsson defines as 5 percent to 10 percent growth.

``We have good reason over time to reach our old levels,'' Svanberg said at the meeting. ``We expect to continue to do well in all our areas.''

Demand for wireless networks that let users download music, view street maps on handheld devices or share files is ``beyond any expectation,'' Svanberg said. Ericsson is upgrading the networks of more than 50 phone companies, with about 6 million subscribers signing up for faster wireless access each month globally, Ericsson said in documents distributed today. Ericsson said mobile subscribers globally will exceed 5 billion by 2012.

Ericsson shares rose as much as 1.02 kronor, or 4.2 percent, to 25.50 kronor and traded at 25.44 kronor as of 12:20 p.m. in Stockholm. Before today, the stock was up 2.4 percent in a year.

The Swedish company has sought to capitalize on rising demand for wireless media applications by creating a multimedia division, partly with the help of acquisitions including Tandberg Television ASA. The performance of the multimedia division will remain ``bumpy'' because the unit is still in a start-up phase, Svanberg said, reiterating comments made in July.

``We all can see that mobile broadband will be a mass market,'' Svanberg said. ``Data will take over.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Benedikt Kammel in London at bkammel@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 11, 2007 06:22 EDT