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Analysts say private networks could account for up to $1.5 billion in Ericsson revenue by 2027
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Ericsson’s September event could focus on traffic, emergency responders, etc.
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Mining remains a global focus area for Ericsson Private Networks.
As the Swedish telecommunications equipment maker tries to expand into the private networking space, could private networking be the canary in the coal mine, signaling Ericsson’s health?
According to Dell’Oro Group, Ericsson is the third largest vendor in 4G and 5G private networks, behind leader Huawei and Nokia in second place. Analysts say private networks – literally standalone radios and core networks installed within the enterprise – represent a smaller portion of the radio access network (RAN) sector than large-scale public RAN deployments, but are growing in importance.
“We believe Ericsson’s annual revenues in the private 4G/5G networks segment will be in the high hundreds of millions of dollars,” Asad Khan, 5G and wireless networks research director at SNS Telecom & IT, told Fierce in an email. “We expect it to reach $1.5 billion by the end of 2027.”
“we, [private networking] “The details are expected to be announced during Ericsson’s quarterly earnings call at the end of August and analyst day on September 12th,” the analyst said.
Ericsson acquired Cradlepoint in 2020 as part of its edge and enterprise-based push, which continues despite a general RAN downturn.
“I think [the September 12 event] The go-to-market partnership will focus on Ericsson’s wireless know-how and Cradlepoint’s capabilities targeting critical industrial, transportation, blue light use cases (law enforcement, emergency services) and state and local governments. [the education sector]”Cradlepoint is playing to its strengths in this area,” Roy Chua, principal analyst at AvidThink, said in an emailed statement.
Move out of a carpeted space
More broadly, Ericsson can point to its expertise in developing private 4G and 5G networks specifically for mining as a selling point for larger private projects, an effort the company has been hard at work on since at least 2020, and possibly even earlier.
“Mining is a high priority for the Swedish telecoms giant, especially in its resource-rich home market,” SNS’s Kahn said.
Other private mobile phone services Ericsson has in the mining sector include Boliden’s Aitik copper and Kankberg gold mines (Sweden), Roy Hill iron ore mine (Australia), South32’s Cannington silver-lead mine (Australia), Agnico Eagle Mines’ Detour Lake mine and Laronde gold mine complex (Canada), Nutrien’s Saskatchewan potash mine (Canada) and Ero Copper’s Caraiva underground mining operation in Bahia state (Brazil), the analyst said.
Khan highlighted 5G trials and ongoing rollout at Australia’s Cadia mine, operated by Newmount, the world’s largest gold miner. “Newmont is also using private cellular equipment supplied by Ericsson at its Lihir gold mine in Papua New Guinea, enhancing levels of safety, remote operation and automation at the mine,” the analyst said.
