Menu

M2M FEATURE NEWS

Ericsson Announces Plans to Switch on 5G Globally in 2019

By Ken Briodagh February 27, 2019

According to a speech by Börje Ekholm, President and CEO, Ericsson, at Mobile World Congress, Ericsson will switch on 5G globally in 2019, backed by a strong, secure and available portfolio. Ekholm also stressed the role of 5G as a critical national infrastructure, and emphasized the advantages for early adopters.

Ekholm said that Ericsson has announced commercial 5G deals with 10 named service provider customers, as well as 42 memorandums of understanding. The company is already rolling out 5G networks across the globe: in the US, Europe, Asia, and Australia.  And he promised more announcements to come.

“Consumers and enterprises are waiting for 5G,” he said. “According to Ericsson ConsumerLab research, one-third of smartphone users globally will change either immediately or within six months to a service provider that switches on 5G. Today, the US and Asia are leading in 5G development.”

Reportedly, the first commercial scale 5G beneficiaries will be mobile broadband consumers with massive and highly cost-efficient capacity expansions facilitating new applications in augmented reality and virtual reality in areas such as gaming and sports broadcasts.

But Ekholm also stressed how 5G would move the industry beyond consumer products and into the industrial internet, citing ongoing collaborations in both mobile robotics and all-electric, autonomous vehicles as examples.

Ericsson said it has already shipped more than 3 million 5G-ready radios to its customers worldwide.

“Our unique Ericsson Spectrum Sharing is the most economically feasible way to introduce 5G in existing bands achieving immediate nationwide coverage,” he said. “We can dynamically mix 4G and 5G traffic on the same spectrum. Some said this kind of spectrum sharing was impossible. Wrong! Our engineers are truly world class. With spectrum sharing, our customers have a real 5G frontrunner advantage.”

Ekholm announced that Ericsson intends to acquire Kathrein’s antenna and filters business for mobile networks. This will expand the company’s capabilities and competences in the advanced active and passive antenna domain. Ericsson will be adding around 4,000 highly-skilled professionals in R&D, production and sales based in more than 20 locations, including Germany, Romania, Mexico and China.


The IoT Evolution Expo, and collocated events, IoT Evolution Health, LPWAN Expo, The Smart City Event, and IIoT Conference, will take place Jan. 29 to Feb 1 in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Visit IoTEvolutionExpo.com to register now.

Edited by Ken Briodagh
Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. [Free eNews Subscription]

Editorial Director

SHARE THIS ARTICLE
Related Articles

Beyond the Closet, Connecting to IoT

By: Gary Audin    11/11/2020

Two challenges arise when considering cable based IoT.

Read More

Banyan Security Enhances Secure Remote Access for Engineering Resources

By: Ken Briodagh    10/27/2020

Banyan's Continuous Authorization Can Grant or Revoke Access to Sensitive Engineering Environments and Applications in Real-time Based on TrustScore

Read More

Senet Eyes RAN Partnerships as Key to Delivering Network Services for Massive IoT

By: Arti Loftus    10/21/2020

To meet the challenges that come with providing network connectivity for IoT solutions, Senet is executing a strategy for massive IoT that will be bui…

Read More

mimik Selected by 5G Open Innovation Lab to Drive Early Adoption of 5G

By: Ken Briodagh    10/15/2020

mimik's patented Hybrid Edge Cloud platform will boost the performance and reduce the cost of 5G Networks

Read More

5G Sets New Standards for Vertical Industries' IoT Connectivity

By: Special Guest    10/13/2020

As 5G rolls out across the world, vertical industries across IoT are working on additional standards to make the technology suitable for their industr…

Read More