The telecom industry is still in the ‘very early stages’ of the 5G cycle, says Ericsson’s Borje Ekholm: Report, ET Telecom

NEW DELHI: The telecom industry is still in the very early stages of the 5G cycle, with one in four locations in the mid-band, according to Borje Ekholm, president and CEO of Swedish equipment maker Ericsson. It has been upgraded to 5G.

“It’s fair to say we’re still in the early stages of 5G. If you look at the number of sites, probably a quarter have been upgraded to mid-band 5G. We’re at the end of the 5G cycle. We’re actually in the early stages of the 5G cycle,” Ekholm told CNBC in an interview on the sidelines of the 2024 World Economic Forum (WEF2024). At Davos.

In November, Ericsson predicted that global 5G subscriber numbers would increase by 330% between 2023 and 2029, from 1.6 billion to 5.3 billion. It predicted that 5G coverage would reach more than 45% of the world’s population by the end of 2023 and more than 85% by the end of 2029.

North America and the Gulf Cooperation Council expect the region to have the highest 5G penetration rate of 92% by the end of 2029. According to Ericsson, he is also predicted to continue with an 85% penetration rate in Western Europe.

Ekholm pointed to an agreement between Ericsson and AT&T to deploy Open Radio Access Network (Open RAN) networks in the United States, and said the carrier expects to have “fully open” and “fully programmable networks” within a few years. He said he is on a journey to build it. .

“…I think many carriers will see (it) as the way forward and as a way to monetize their networks in the future,” the CEO said.

In December, the US carrier signed a five-year agreement with Ericsson to commercially build an open RAN technology-based network that will carry 70% of wireless traffic in the US by the end of 2026.

AT&T’s spending could reach about $14 billion over the life of the contract, the companies said. Starting in 2024, AT&T plans to operate a fully integrated open RAN site in partnership with Ericsson and Fujitsu. AT&T plans to expand its OpenRAN deployment in 2025 in collaboration with multiple vendors including Corning Incorporated, Dell Technologies, Fujitsu, and Intel.

AT&T also said that expected spending under the Ericsson contract is “less than what the company expects to spend on wireless capital expenditures over the next five years.”

Ekholm said 6G will be an “evolution” of 5G, and expects commercial deployment of sixth-generation technology to begin around 2030. But it gives us much more capacity. Lower latency, higher capacity, and the ability to drive entirely new use cases. ”

Ericsson said such use cases for 6G include factory automation and the digitalization of society.