Ericsson says industry growing after tough '09

LAS VEGAS, March 23 (Reuters) -Ericsson's (ERICb.ST) top executive said the telecommunications network infrastructure market is seeing growth this year compared with 2009, which was one of the worst years in history for the industry.

"Of course we're seeing growth in the industry after 2009," Ericsson Chief Executive Hans Vestberg told the audience at a press conference at the CTIA wireless trade show.

The company also said on Tuesday that data traffic surpassed voice traffic in December for the first time. It said that this was based on measurements of global networks.

Because of this, Vestberg said, network infrastructure would become even more important in coming years than in the last 10 years.

"In the next 10 years its going to be even more important," he said. (Reporting by Sinead Carew; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)