Unlike Apple or Microsoft, Ericsson is a company that is not in the consciousness of many mobile consumers. You won’t see adds for Ericsson on TV promoting its latest technology, but if you have a cell phone, there is a good chance it is connected in some way to an Ericsson product.
Ericsson is one of the companies behind the scenes developing products and services to fill the gaps in connectivity.
Analysis by Morgan Stanley said there could be as many as 75 billion connected device in the next five years and Ericsson expects a 45% increase in total mobile data traffic by 2020. This means there will be a lot of gaps to fill.
With just a quick glance at their portfolio, you can see Ericsson is quietly preparing for the data and devices explosion by transitioning from a mostly infrastructure focused company to one that offers a wide variety of services, software and infrastructure for a networked society.
The company has five focuses that it said allows them to be a leader and innovator in the drive toward a connected future.
5G
There is no doubt “5G” is the future, but if you ask any engineer on the front lines of 5G R&D, they will tell you no one really knows what it is yet. Setting global standards for 5G is critical for the digitalization of industries, the “Internet of Things” and broadband everywhere.
Ericsson has been working in the research and development of 5G technologies, including 5G system development and radio system design and roadmap recommendation for 5G standardization.
Recently, they have been testing a mobile 5G device on the streets of Stockholm, Sweden; and Plano, Texas. The testbed is designed to replicate a tablet, smartphone or PC at 5G speeds.
As of now, the device is capable of achieving downlink speeds of 5.7 gigabits per second using a a four-antenna base station that allows for 100 megahertz-wide output per radio. Keith Shank, director of Ericsson’s Advanced Technology Lab in Plano, said he believes the device will reach 10 Gbps by the end of the summer.
Hear Sara Mazur, Ericsson’s global head of research talk 5G and beyond in the video below.
Connected homes and cities
A networked society looks to connect everything. The goal is for homes, cars, cities and devices to seamlessly connect with one another for a more efficient society.
Ericsson’s home base of Stockholm is considered one of the most connected cities in the world. Stockholm boasts 100% fixed and mobile broadband coverage and is home to the world’s largest open fiber network. According to a report by Stokab, by early 2005, practically all neighborhoods in Stockholm’s inner city were connected.
The report says the network has allowed for the extension of the 4G mobile networks with four operators and created conditions conducive to developing services, including cloud services, smart e-services and other innovations.
The city also boasts geo-tracked public buses and trains, and connected payment terminals. The Swedes are also using smart technologies to reduce carbon emissions.
This video shows a proof of concept for Ericsson’s virtual home gateway.
TV and media
Ericsson is also looking to revolutionize the way we consume television and media, pioneering technologies such as cloud DVR, media delivery network and LTE-Broadcast solutions.
They project that total mobile video traffic will increase by a factor of 17 by 2020, as compared to the volume tallied between 2009 and 2014.
Ericsson has provided network hardware for large scale tests of the LTE-B technology at major sporting events such as the College Football National Championship game at AT&T stadium in Dallas.
The technology enables networks to stream content in a more spectrally efficient way than current mobile video technologies. In the case of sporting events, it provides the consumer with more control of their viewing experience.
The cloud DVR features streaming for licensed content; a long tail server, which enables operators to deliver content from a master library; a content delivery network assist, which allows for streaming of over-the-top content; and an enhanced, scalable video-on-demand functionality.
Ericsson is looking to take advantage of emerging media markets. They plan to have a 15% share in the Indian TV market by 2017.
In the video below, Ericsson’s Simon Frost explains the future of the company’s mobile content delivery strategy.
Connected business
Ericsson is also one of the leaders in connected business technology such as operating support and business support systems and mobile commerce.
OSS and BSS are the links that connect one end of a network to the other and allow service providers to break down complex information and combine it into one package for the end user.
“It’s the back office and front office systems that all the communication service providers use to connect the end customer to the network and all of the content in between,” Ray Bariso, VP of business and operations solutions at Ericsson explained.
Through analytics, cloud computing, virtualized networks and software-defined networking the systems are able to bring the technologies of the future such as connected car, “IoT” and machine-to-machine together.
Bariso says the convergence of technologies is creating an all new ecosystems and all-new business processes. With all the changes in technology over the last few years, OSS and BSS have become the foundation of that new ecosystem.
M-Commerce is becoming big business. A recent report by Digi-Capital estimates that venture capitalists invested $4.2 billion in m-commerce from the third quarter of 2013 to Q3 of 2014.
Ericsson’s M-Commerce is made up of three products: their Wallet Platform, Converged Wallet and M-Commerce Interconnect. It is an open-platform financial software that connects multiple services into one package and allows customers to send, spend and receive money from all over the world with their mobile devices.
Ericsson recently announced a partnership with Verifone Mobile Money to integrate with its Wallet Platform to expand payment options that include emerging markets. VeriFone’s payment devices include NFC, mobile wallets, EMV and contactless payments.
Expansion into emerging markets
The projected explosion of connected devices will not come without expansion to currently untapped markets. Ericsson has taken note of this, looking to expand into emerging markets in India, Africa, Latin America and rest of the world.
Ericsson claims to be the largest global supplier of LTE technology with over 1 billion subscribers to its managed network services in 180 countries.
In June of 2015, Ericsson won its first LTE contract in Sub-Saharan Africa. According to a Nasdaq analyst blog, they will offer comprehensive services in Uganda, Nigeria, Tanzania and Democratic Republic of Congo comprising performance, optimization and network operations, among others.
Ericsson also recently signed a contract with Taiwan’s largest mobile operator, Chunghwa Telecom, to deploy additional LTE infrastructure designed to enable the operator to expand its current LTE coverage and capacity.
Ericsson will serve as the sole supplier for multi-access evolved packet core, and radio access network equipment in Taiwan’s most populated areas.
According to Ericsson’s Mobility Report, three quarters of global subscription growth came from Africa and Asia in the first quarter of 2015. That trend is expected to continue into 2020
A recent study by Ericsson’s ConsumerLab found that 35% of Latin American 3G mobile users are interested in upgrading to 4G.
Currently, 40% of the global mobile traffic is carried over Ericsson’s networks.
For an inside look at Ericsson’s Plano office, check out RCRtv’s “Digs.”
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