T-Mobile
and Ericsson Sign Major
$3.5 Billion 5G Agreement
Ericsson
(NASDAQ: ERIC) and T-Mobile (NASDAQ: TMUS) today announced a multi-year, $3.5
billion contract to support T-Mobile’s nationwide 5G network deployment. Under
the deal, Ericsson will provide T-Mobile with the latest 5G New Radio (NR)
hardware and software compliant with 3GPP standards.
Bridging from
a nationwide LTE Advanced network to 5G, T-Mobile will leverage Ericsson’s
market-leading 5G portfolio to expand existing LTE capacity needs while
future-proofing the network.
The contract
also encompasses Ericsson’s digital services solutions, including dynamic
orchestration, business support systems (BSS) and Ericsson Cloud Core, enabling
T-Mobile to rapidly launch innovative and groundbreaking 5G experiences to
customers.
Neville Ray,
Chief Technology Officer, T-Mobile, says: “While the other guys just make
promises, we’re putting our money where our mouth is. With this new Ericsson
agreement we’re laying the groundwork for 5G – and with Sprint we can
supercharge the 5G revolution.”
Niklas
Heuveldop, President and Head of Ericsson North America, says: “We have
recently decided to increase our investments in the US to be closer to our
leading customers and better support them with their accelerated 5G
deployments; thereby bringing 5G to life for consumers and enterprises across
the country. This agreement marks a major milestone for both companies. We are
excited about our partnership with T-Mobile, supporting them to strengthen,
expand and speed up the deployment of their nationwide 5G network.”
5G promises to
deliver very high data speeds, extreme low latency, ultra-high reliability,
energy efficiency and extreme device densities, which will be realized by the
development of LTE in combination with new radio-access technologies.
Under the
terms of the new deal, Ericsson will supply hardware and software from its
market-ready 5G
Platform, which includes its strengthened
Ericsson Radio System portfolio, across all spectrum bands available to
T-Mobile. Additionally, T-Mobile’s already installed base of Ericsson Radio
System radios will be able to run 5G NR technology with simple remote software
installation.
Source: Ericsson media announcement