Ericsson, telecommunications equipment provider, says it is keen on delivering 5G technology to the global market in the near future as it looks to further assert its leadership in technology and services in an increasingly data-centric world.
5G technologies, the next evolutionary path, after 4G for wireless technology, support 1,000-fold gains in capacity, connections for at least 100 billion devices, and 10 gigabits per second (Gb/s) individual user experience capable of extremely low latency and response times.
Hans Vestberg, president and chief executive officer, of the Company, who made this known at its opening-day media and analyst briefing at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, talked about growth opportunities for mobile operators while foreseeing an even more data-centric world, demanding superior network performance. In his recap of the preceding year, he said more than 55 percent of all phone shipments were Smartphone and LTE (Long Term Evolution) subscriptions reached 200 million.
“The early days of the Networked Society are here. We use our smartphones to work, live, and entertain ourselves in more powerful ways every day. That demands networks that provide superior performance, and our leadership across generations of technology – from fixed to wireless to LTE-Advanced and, in the future, 5G – contributes to our ability to deliver that to our customers.”
New measurements from Ericsson show that half of all LTE smartphone traffic goes through Ericsson networks and the firm is ranked number one for LTE market share in the world’s top 100 cities.
Additionally, the firm’s number one position in Services is extended with a new launch of Telecom Cloud Transformation, which provides consulting and systems integration for operators. With 43 percent of Ericsson’s sales coming from Services, he said the business area is playing a key role in the company’s own transformation. While the world becomes more data-centric, networks are undergoing IT and telecom convergence.
Evidence of Ericsson’s continuous focus on IP and network technology and services is the recent announcement of the agreement with packet optical-network provider Ciena. Mobile and fixed systems require a superior transport network, and IP -optical convergence plays a key role in this transition. The agreement allows Ericsson to grasp this growth opportunity by strengthening its portfolio with integration between Ciena’s optical technology and Ericsson’s IP and SDN technology. During 2013, Ericsson launched a game-changing product for indoor coverage: the Ericsson Radio Dot System, which was endorsed by customers AT&T and Verizon. Vestberg named more customers, who have committed to trials of the product in their home markets:
MTN, SingTel, Softbank and, Swisscom, Telstra and Vodafone. He outlined Ericsson’s strategic moves this year that support customers in three categories: network evolution, OSS/BSS and process transformation, and innovation and revenue growth.
Onstage guests highlighted business deals in each category. Verizon CTO Tony Melone spoke about network evolution, describing the progress made since last year’s announcement about LTE Broadcast and discussing the importance of boosting indoor coverage with solutions like the Ericsson Radio Dot System.
In the innovation and revenue growth area, Vestberg was joined onstage by the CEO of Philips to announce the Zero Site, an innovative LED lamp post that allows city officials to rent space to service providers for mobile broadband equipment.
A critical change in the industry and for Ericsson has been the continued development and market growth of OSS and BSS solutions, which help service providers launch applications faster (from months to days or hours) and enable real-time analytics to support operators in ensuring superior customer experiences. Having strengthened its position in the area Ericsson’s leading position was reaffirmed by a new deal announced with operator CenturyLink.
Service Agility from Ericsson will allow CenturyLink to improve the customer experience via product consolidation, system transformation and network simplification. Vestberg described five new trends for 2014: Digital Lifestyle drives demand; Information Communications Technology (ICT) transforming industries;
Data brings new business models; Customer experience in focus; and Superior network performance wins.
He predicted that mobile video traffic growth would exceed 75 percent and that the global probability of getting mobile data throughput of at least 1Mbps, or sufficient app coverage, during 2014 would increase, but not enough. “We need continuous app coverage to support our new ways of living and doing business,” said Vestberg.
