BT taps Ericsson to provide London 5G networks
BT has chosen Swedish telecoms firm Ericsson to provide 5G radio equipment in London, Edinburgh, Belfast, Cardiff and other major UK cities.
The deal means that when rollout is completed, Ericsson will manage around 50 per cent of BT’s 5G traffic.
It comes just months after the government said it would ban Chinese firm Huawei from its 5G networks.
Earlier this year, BT selected Ericsson to provide its cloud-computing 5G core, meaning the Swedish firm is now BT’s end-to-end partner for the new tech.
In addition, it will also help BT modernise its 2G and 4G network.
Börje Ekholm, President and CEO, Ericsson, said: “Having already been selected to partner in 5G Core, we are pleased to strengthen the relationship further with this deal that will deliver high performance and secure 5G to their customers across the UK’s major cities.
“By deploying 5G in these key areas, we are yet again demonstrating our technology leadership in population-dense and high traffic locations.”
The new contract award means that Ericsson has now won 113 deals to supply its 5G tech around the world.
Last month BT signed a deal with rival firm Nokia to provide 5G radio equipment for a group of other towns and cities across the UK, as well as a number of rural areas.
Commenting on today’s deal BT chief executive Philip Jansen said: “Our customers deserve the best network and we are delivering.
“We’re the UK leader in 5G and are excited to be working with Ericsson as a key partner to maintain that market leadership. Through this deal, we will continue to drive the best mobile experiences for our customers.”