This announcement signals a strengthening in the BT-Ericsson strategic partnership and builds on BT's prior selection of Ericsson for its cloud-native dual-mode 5G Core earlier this year. At the completion of this RAN deployment, Ericsson will manage around 50 per cent of BT’s 5G traffic.
Philip Jansen (pictured), CEO, BT, 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. The lightning-fast speeds of 5G will help them to develop their businesses, stream a growing choice of content over our network, and stay in touch with colleagues and friends all over the world.”
Ericsson said its RAN platform technology will reduce BT’s energy consumption and optimise costs. As such, these deployments will help meet BT’s sustainability commitments whilst delivering an improved customer experience for BT mobile customers.
Börje Ekholm, president and CEO, Ericsson, added, “BT has a clear direction in how it wants to drive its 5G ambitions in the UK and we are delighted to be their partner in delivering that. 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.
“5G plays a critical role in meeting the UK’s Digital ambitions, accelerating digitalisation of the economy and stimulating next generation wireless innovation for consumers and enterprise. With leading 5G technology, a robust supply chain capability, and more than 120 years of local presence in the UK, we’re committed to rolling out a reliable and secure 5G network alongside BT.”