Focus in on 5G software and security solutions
Ericsson announced it will establish a new 5G R&D facility in France with up to 300 employees, the Swedish vendor said in a release. This new R&D center will focus initially on 5G software development and security, Ericsson said.
Ericsson announced plans to open the new R&D site in early 2020, with a progressive ramp-up to increase its R&D presence to up to 300 employees. An initial unit will be established at Ericsson’s offices in Massy, France, part of Paris-Saclay, one of Europe’s largest innovation zones. This unit will provide access to a competence pool and foster industry and academic collaborations.
Fredrik Jejdling, EVP and Head of Networks, Ericsson, said: “We recognize the economic and technological importance of the French market and the country’s influence in Europe. The rich technology ecosystem and key competencies that are present in France are conducive to building 5G through a strong R&D presence in the country. This initiative will strengthen Ericsson’s 5G software portfolio, including enhancing security capabilities, especially for the French and European markets. It will also support our continued focus on Europe and bring the latest innovations to our customers.”
Ericsson currently employs 15,000 engineers in Europe which represents 60% of its total R&D staff. The company has 18 R&D centers in Europe including Finland, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Spain, and Sweden.
In September 2019, Ericsson completed a SEK 500 million ($52.5 million) investment at its factory in Tallinn, Estonia, in which the company expects to manufacture 5G products. Ericsson’s 25,000sq m factory in Tallinn has undergone a two-year digitalization transformation to become a 5G manufacturing facility utilizing Ericsson’s own 5G technology.
Ericsson currently has more than 75 commercial 5G agreements or contracts with unique communication service providers, of which 24 are live networks. Some key customers include AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile US, US Cellular, Verizon, Swisscom, TDC, Telenor, Vodafone UK, Wind , Etisalat, Optus, Ooredoo, STC, KT, SK Telecom and Telstra.
In France, the deployment of 5G is behind other European markets as the local government still needs to award suitable spectrum for 5G.
Last month,the French government launched a procedure for assigning 5G frequency licenses after it approved specifications proposed by telecoms regulator Arcep as well as the financial conditions for the licenses.
Arcep previously said that it would award frequencies in the 3.4-3.8 GHz band and the total allocation would be for 310 MHz of spectrum.
It said it would include four blocks of 50 megahertz and the rest would be blocks of 10 megahertz.
Arcep also confirmed that it is ready to conduct the frequency allocation procedure, so that the first commercially available 5G services can be launched in 2020.
The regulator’s head Sebastien Soriano previously told French newspaper Le Figaro that the 5G auction would likely take place in April 2020.
The country’s four operators Orange, SFR, Iliad and Bouygues are all expected to take part in the upcoming 5G auction.
Arcep’s specifications stipulate that each operator must launch 5G services in at least two cities before the end of 2020. Each carrier should deploy 3,000 sites by 2022, 8,000 sites in 2024 and 10,500 sites by 2025.
