The IT Nerd

Ericsson has announced it has joined the OCUDU Ecosystem Foundation as a founding premier member, underscoring its commitment to open innovation in radio access network (RAN) software. Ericsson will hold a seat on the Foundation’s Board of Directors.

OCUDU, an open-source initiative under the Linux Foundation, aims to accelerate U.S. leadership in wireless innovation through a portable, open-source CU/DU software stack supporting next-generation RAN capabilities.

Ericsson will help shape OCUDU’s direction to enable research, experimentation, and ecosystem development alongside operators, government agencies, academic institutions, and technology partners. Ericsson’s participation will focus on contributing architectural guidance, ensuring technology neutrality, and advancing research-driven use cases, building on its experience in world‑leading solutions deployed globally across governmental, enterprise, and consumer networks. The company remains dedicated to delivering secure, trusted, and high‑performance networks and will leverage its industry-leading expertise to advance an open and interoperable ecosystem defining the progression of 5G and the emergence of 6G toward a 6G/AI intelligent fabric.

OCUDU Ecosystem Foundation will help facilitate dual use of commercial 5G technologies in specific defense applications, meeting the requirements of the U.S. Department of War. Ericsson is dedicated to supporting the U.S. government’s efforts to modernize its infrastructure by transitioning from legacy systems to secure, open, and programmable network architectures. This will ensure technology neutrality, strengthen national security standards, and foster a resilient telecommunications ecosystem where AI‑driven capabilities can be deployed at scale.

Ericsson today announced it has successfully completed the world’s first 6G pre-standard over-the-air (OTA) session, marking a major milestone towards commercial 6G networks and reinforcing U.S. leadership in next-generation wireless innovation.

This milestone was achieved on a pre-standard 6G system using a trusted, end-to-end architecture designed to be AI and cloud native. Conducted at Ericsson’s U.S. headquarters in Plano, Texas, the OTA session validates the readiness of key 6G building blocks. The demonstration features radio hardware, RAN Compute, software-defined air interfaces, and cloud platforms. Ericsson’s future-proof software architecture is deployable on multiple hardware platforms, including CPU (Central Processing Units) and GPU (Graphics Processing Units).

This achievement supports the U.S. government’s focus on 6G leadership, including early research, global standards and forward-looking spectrum policy. 6G is a critical infrastructure for national security, economic competitiveness, and AI-driven innovation. Ericsson’s work directly supports those priorities by showing how future networks can deliver secure, high-performance, AI-native connectivity that underpins U.S. economic competitiveness, innovation, and national security.

Why this matters

Specifically, the 6G trial proves two key capabilities to prepare future networks for AI: powering AI robotics with instant, reliable connections and processing for real‑time control; and enabling real‑time video streaming.  As AI expands beyond smartphones to power robotics, autonomous systems, immersive applications, and industrial automation, wireless infrastructure is becoming a critical layer of the AI stack. 6G networks will be designed to sense, compute, and adapt in real time, enabling consistent low latency, higher uplink capacity, and new classes of AI services that are not possible today.

Ericsson’s OTA milestone demonstrates that these capabilities are moving into system-level reality, positioning the U.S. ecosystem to shape global standards, drive innovation, and lead commercialization of 6G.

A long-term commitment to the United States

Ericsson has operated in the U.S. for more than 120 years and continues to expand its footprint across research, manufacturing, and operations. The company employs more than 6,000 people across the country and operates 12 R&D centers focused on AI, ASIC design, and antenna systems. Its U.S. headquarters in Plano, Texas, serves as a major hub for advanced wireless R&D, standards development, and customer engagement.

Ericsson also currently manufactures advanced 5G radios and RAN Compute systems at its 5G USA Smart Factory in Lewisville, Texas – one of the most advanced telecom manufacturing facilities in the country. Ericsson has invested more than USD 150 million in the factory and is the only manufacturer making telecom equipment at scale in the U.S. The highly automated, 300,000-square-foot facility supports more than 550 U.S. manufacturing jobs and strengthens secure, resilient domestic supply chains. As 6G technology matures, Ericsson plans to build-on this U.S.-based manufacturing foundation to support future deployments.

Technical highlights

• The system consists of a pre-standard 6G stack with:
  • Spectrum in the 7GHz range (Centimeter Wave)
  • Carrier bandwidth of 400 MHz
  • Performance focus on optimized uplink, enhanced energy efficiency, and maximized spectral utilization

The demonstration leveraged Ericsson radios, baseband platforms, and cloud-native software, and strengthened ongoing contributions to global standard bodies, including 3GPP and Open RAN. Ericsson will continue expanding trials across additional spectrum bands, enabling AI-native capabilities, and collaborating with operators, chipset partners, and the broader ecosystem to accelerate 6G readiness.

NTT DATA and Ericsson today announced a multi-year strategic partnership to accelerate enterprise adoption of private 5G and unlock advanced edge AI and physical AI use cases. As organizations look to embed intelligence at the edge across global operations, the partnership will enable AI-driven, outcome-focused transformation.

By combining Ericsson’s Private 5G and Edge platforms with NTT DATA’s full-stack enterprise network services, wireless network expertise, IT/OT security and managed services, the companies will deliver industry-ready solutions that help enterprises deploy private 5G networks and deliver business outcomes at a global scale with confidence.

The partnership will focus on four priority areas:

• Global Private 5G managed services at scale: NTT DATA will act as one of Ericsson’s key global system integration and managed services providers, delivering Private 5G as a fully managed service with consistent architecture, operations and security worldwide.
• AI embedded directly into enterprise connectivity: NTT DATA Edge AI agents will run on Ericsson’s enterprise Edge platforms, enabling real-time intelligence and autonomous decision-making where data is generated.
• Repeatable industry solutions: The companies will be able to deliver proven private 5G, edge AI and physical AI use cases across manufacturing, mining, ports, airports, energy, transportation and smart cities, helping enterprises accelerate deployment and realize measurable ROI.
• Unified global go-to-market: Joint sales, marketing and delivery will give enterprises a single, consistent path to deployment, reduce vendor complexity and speed time to value.

The partnership will initially focus on high-impact use cases across industries, including the following:

• Manufacturing: Automated quality inspection, predictive maintenance and real-time safety monitoring using sensor and vision data.
• Transportation, ports and logistics: Autonomous operations driven by real-time vehicle and asset data for dynamic routing, tracking and safety.
• Energy and mining: Remote and autonomous operations, intelligent inspection and AI-driven monitoring in complex and hazardous environments.
• Smart cities: Intelligent traffic management, public safety monitoring and real-time optimization of energy and municipal services.

Ericsson and Mastercard today announce a collaboration to reshape how money moves across the world. By integrating the Ericsson Fintech Platform (Mobile Financial Services) with Mastercard Move – Mastercard’s portfolio of money movement solutions – the collaboration will empower telecom service providers, banks, and fintechs to expand digital wallet capabilities, launch new payment services, and reach unbanked or underbanked communities.

Ericsson’s pre-integrated application programming interfaces (APIs), cloud-native deployment and compliance-ready infrastructure simplifies fintech connectivity to Mastercard Move.

These capabilities reduce technology complexity, lower operational barriers (by simplifying integration, deployment and compliance) and accelerate time to market for new payment services – all aimed at catalyzing innovation and growth in the sector.

The Ericsson-Mastercard collaboration transforms how financial services are built, delivered and scaled. It creates new revenue streams and strengthens digital ecosystems across emerging and developed markets.

Financial inclusion and accessibility are key focuses of the collaboration. Mastercard Move enables money movement across 200 countries and territories, connecting more than ten billion endpoints, and supporting transactions in 150 currencies.

Ericsson’s fintech platform operates in 22 countries, serving more than 120 million active users and processing more than four billion transactions every month across digital wallets, payments, remittances, lending, and loyalty services – all backed by enterprise-grade security.

Mastercard Move‘s integration into Ericsson’s Fintech Platform aims to accelerate the adoption of digital payments and expand participation in the digital economy. The global rollout will begin in the Middle East and Africa, where demand for mobile money, remittances and interoperable payment services is particularly strong.

Related link: Ericsson Mobile Financial Services

Ericsson has announced a major joint Microsoft-Ericsson development in enterprise mobility – the integration of advanced 5G capabilities directly into Windows 11. The transformative results mean enterprises worldwide – and their workforces – stand to benefit from secure, policy-driven laptop connectivity, simplifying how IT departments manage, protect and scale mobile PC fleets.

The joint solution combines Microsoft Intune device management with Ericsson Enterprise 5G Connect (formerly Ericsson Enterprise Virtual Cellular Network – EVCN) – an AI- and cloud-analytics-powered platform that continuously monitors network quality and automatically adjusts connectivity for best performance and security.

The embedding of AI-based 5G management into Windows 11 enables IT teams to automate how devices connect, seamlessly switch between communications service providers’ (CSPs) networks, and apply in-house enterprise policies.

Through Microsoft Intune and Ericsson Enterprise 5G Connect, IT teams can automatically enforce secure connectivity profiles and enterprise policies across every 5G-connected device, minimizing manual setup while ensuring consistent, compliant user experiences everywhere employees work.

Such automation capabilities remove long-standing challenges in adopting cellular-connected laptops – minimizing manual setup and ensuring consistent user experience across locations and service providers.  The new capabilities also reduce IT overheads and provide enterprises with a predictable, secure pathway to tap modern mobility capabilities – powered by the most secure and cloud‑integrated version of Windows.

Building on Microsoft and Ericsson’s long-standing collaboration to bring managed 5G connectivity to the enterprise workspace, today’s announcement follows several successful multi-market pilots. In collaboration with CSPs and other global partners, Microsoft and Ericsson will deliver enterprise 5G bundles, starting with Surface Copilot+ PCs, Microsoft 365 and Intune, Ericsson Enterprise 5G Connect.

In addition to demonstrating solution capabilities, Microsoft and Ericsson will give attendees at MWC Barcelona 2026 – the world’s largest mobile connectivity expo – exclusive insights to future solution capabilities that are set to become part of the solution.

Experts will showcase the joint solution and its new features: to remotely set network policies for 5G as priority; the automatic switching of eSIMs; and the local AI agent running on a Surface 5G laptop to make intelligent, context-aware decisions in real time. This will show connectivity performance is optimized to ensure consistently smooth, reliable performance for high-value business workflows.

The joint solution is now available to enterprises in key markets: in the United States with T-Mobile; in Sweden with Telenor; in Singapore with Singtel; and in Japan with SoftBank Corp. Similar launches will follow during 2026 in other markets, including in Spain with MasOrange; in Germany with O2 Telefónica Germany; and in Finland with Elisa.

Related link: Ericsson Portfolio: Ericsson Enterprise 5G Connect

Ericsson is addressing the growing need for resilient, intelligent connectivity in mobile environments with the new Ericsson Cradlepoint R2400 and extensible RC1250 modem. Designed for vehicles and mobile field teams, this solution combines ultra-fast failover, precise location services, and powerful edge computing to help organizations operate safely, efficiently, and with confidence.

Whether it’s first responders coordinating life-saving missions, transit operators keeping passengers connected and on schedule, or private fleets optimizing routes and conducting predictive maintenance, the R2400 delivers the reliability and performance these sectors demand. Compatible with public safety networks and new network slicing services, the R2400 leverages the latest in 5G standalone Release 17 technology to support new capabilities across public safety, mass transit, and private fleet networks.

Key highlights include:

• Fast carrier failover: Industry-first Dual‑SIM / Dual Standby (DSDS) on a single modem enables carrier switchover roughly 10× faster than previous approaches keeping voice, video, and data flowing during critical missions and transit routes.
• Centimetre‑level location accuracy: Real‑Time Kinematics (RTK) combined with dead‑reckoning improves positioning from 1–3 metres to ~1 cm, enabling lane‑level vehicle identification and precise real-time tracking of personnel, assets, and drones.
• Multi-link resiliency: Support for up to five simultaneous cellular plus multiple low‑Earth‑orbit (LEO) satellite connections maximizes throughput and availability, even in rural or low‑coverage areas.
• High‑performance in‑vehicle Wi‑Fi: Embedded 4×4 software defined Wi‑Fi 7 access point delivers approximately 2-4× faster Wi‑Fi speeds for passenger and operational communications across mass transit and public safety.

As first responders and mass-transit agencies adopt AI, real-time monitoring, and autonomous vehicles/drones, reliable, scalable in-vehicle connectivity is becoming critical. According to Verizon’s Frontline Study 2025, 46 per cent of first responders in the U.S. expect daily AI use within five years, and 48 per cent expect daily drone use. The National Academies Autonomous Transit Survey (2024) found that 84 per cent of U.S. transit agencies plan to use or evaluate autonomous buses within three to five years. Paired with the extensible RC1250 modem, the R2400 delivers pay-as-you-grow WAN capacity for applications such as live video streaming, while providing on-board local AI inferencing.

Key improvements over prior generations of products include:

• Expanded edge compute: 2.5x more on‑device compute to support local AI inferencing, computer vision, and to support enhanced performance for containerized applications—accelerating actionable insights on scene.
• Faster security processing: 2x more throughput to support NetCloud SASE’s zero-trust security and SD-WAN services to provide a highly secure and optimized WAN network across fleets, sites, and critical assets.
• Future‑proof modularity: Unique extensible architecture allows organizations to add or upgrade 5G modems as carrier technology evolves, without replacing the router.
• AI-assisted centralized management and orchestration: In addition to providing centralized visibility to every vehicle and its location, NetCloud offers the industry’s first agentic AI virtual expert optimized for enterprise 5G networking to help improve the productivity of lean IT teams. AIOps dashboards help pinpoint anomalies before impacting service.

The Ericsson Cradlepoint R2400 router and RC1250 captive modem accessory will be available in Q2 2026. For more information, visit the website.

Ericsson AIR 3255 Massive MIMO antenna-integrated radios are operating live in Japanese communications service provider (CSP) NTT DOCOMO, INC’s.(“DOCOMO”) 5G network. Covering the 4.5 GHz band, the new radios will help to meet current and future 5G network traffic needs in areas with high traffic congestion and demand.

Live AIR 3255 network operations began in December 2025 to help DOCOMO deliver the high‑quality network experience its customers expect.

Powered by the latest Ericsson Silicon, the AIR 3255 Massive MIMO radio delivers 25 percent lower energy use, and 20 percent reduction in embodied CO₂ footprint, compared to the previous generation.  

At just 13kg, the unit is 20 percent lighter than the previous generation, further easing deployment in high-traffic locations. Customer network connectivity experiences will also be enhanced by advanced unit features such as multi-user MIMO – which delivers throughput regardless of network congestion.

The Ericsson AIR 3255 will also enable spectrum to be used more efficiently as data traffic grows. Working with DOCOMO’s current 3.7 GHz-band Massive MIMO 5G radios, it will also make the network more flexible and reliable.

5G Standalone (5G SA) deployments have triggered a notable 2025 growth in the number of communications service providers (CSPs) offering differentiated connectivity commercial models based on 5G SA Network Slicing – where CSPs guarantee quality of service for customer use cases through the allocation of slices of the network. The statistic is part of in-depth reporting, analysis and forecasting in the November 2025 Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) Mobility Report (EMR).

More than 90 CSPs have now launched/soft-launched 5G Standalone (5G SA) networks – an increase of about 30 CSPs from the same period last year and 20 from the June 2025 EMR report.

EMR researchers identified 118 cases – across 56 CSPs – where network slicing is used to provide differentiated connectivity services.

Of the 118 cases – 65 have moved beyond proof of concept and into commercial services, across 33 CSPs. These are either subscription services or add-on packages for consumer or enterprise customers.

Twenty-one of the 65 commercial offerings – almost one third – were launched during 2025 alone.

The November 2025 EMR covers a new forecast timeframe, from 2025 through the end of 2031.

The new reporting EMR period also covers the first expected deployments of commercial 6G. Based on previous mobile generation cycles’ subscriptions uptake, EMR researchers expect the first commercial launches to be driven by leading service providers in front-runner markets – such as the U.S., Japan, South Korea, China, India, and some Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

Global 6G subscriptions are forecast to reach 180 million by the end of 2031, not including the early uptake of AI-enabled Internet of Things devices. The subscription uptake number could increase significantly if 6G launches earlier than previous cycles indicate.

Commercial 6G is expected to launch about a year later in Europe, compared to other countries, than was the case for 5G, primarily due comparably later deployments of 5G SA

As an ongoing major 5G use case, enhanced mobile broadband is forecast to top 6.4 billion 5G subscriptions by the end of 2031, comprising about two-thirds of all mobile subscriptions at the time. Some 4.1 billion of these subscriptions – about 65 percent – are forecast to be 5G SA.

In 2025 alone, 5G subscriptions are expected to top 2.9 billion by the end of the year – equating to about one third of all current mobile subscriptions – an increase of some 600 million subscriptions year-on-year.

In geographical coverage terms, 2025 saw an increase of 400 million people worldwide being able to access 5G. About 50 percent of the global population beyond mainland China is expected to have 5G coverage by the end of 2025.

Mobile network data traffic grew 20 percent between the third quarter of 2024 and the corresponding period in 2025 – a slightly larger than expected increase, driven by mainland China and India. Continued growth is forecast at an annual average of 16 percent through 2031.

5G networks are expected to manage 43 percent of all mobile data by the close of 2025 – up from 34 percent for the corresponding period last year. EMR experts forecast this to increase to 83 percent in 2031.

Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) broadband continues to grow as a 5G use case. The November 2025 EMR forecasts that about 1.4 billion people globally are expected to access FWA broadband by the end of 2031 – 90 percent via 5G.

EMR researchers have identified 159 providers that currently offer FWA services via 5G – amounting to approximately 65 percent of all FWA service providers. The number of service providers offering speed-based tariffs – a common monetization model for fixed broadband via fiber or cable – increased from 43 percent to 54 percent since the November 2024 EMR.

The 36-page November 2025 EMR includes three co-written use-case articles:

• Singtel: 5G SA providing tailored experiences
• Softbank: modernizing enterprise IT with 5G
• SailGP: enhancing operations and viewer experiences with 5G

Ericsson will host related Ericsson Mobility Report online seminars at 09.00 (CET) and at 18.00 (CET) today, Thursday  November 20 . To join please register via this link.

Read the full November 2025 Ericsson Mobility Report via this link.

Based on unique Ericsson and partner network insights, the Ericsson Mobility Report has been the key industry reference for network data, performance, statistics, and forecasts since its launch in 2011.

Ericsson and Vodafone, one of the world’s leading telecommunications companies, have announced a five-year strategic partnership to modernize Vodafone’s network footprint using Ericsson’s high-performing programmable network solutions across several key markets.

Ericsson will be Vodafone’s sole RAN vendor in Ireland, Netherlands, and Portugal, as well as a major vendor in Germany, Romania, and Egypt. This move further deepens the long-standing, strategic relationship between the two companies.

The modernization of Vodafone’s RAN infrastructure and management will lay the foundation for widespread deployment of 5G Standalone, enabling Vodafone to offer differentiated connectivity solutions with guaranteed, performance-based characteristics for their consumer and enterprise customers.

Under the partnership, Vodafone will deploy Ericsson’s state-of-the-art and Open RAN-compatible Massive MIMO radios and RAN Compute solutions, as well as 5G Advanced RAN software capabilities extensively across their networks in these markets.

The pan-European deal introduces Ericsson Intelligent Automation Platform and a number of AI-powered rApps which will be deployed market-by-market to deliver automated RAN optimization, energy efficiency, and management of the multi-vendor network.

Germany will be the first market to deploy the platform and rApps for Ericsson and multi-vendor RAN management, with work beginning in Q4 2025. The comprehensive AI and network evolution partnership will elevate Vodafone’s infrastructure to world-class standards, taking the first steps towards autonomous networks and ensuring their networks are at the forefront of technological advancement and capable of meeting future demands.

Vodafone will further enhance its network infrastructure by using Ericsson 5G Advanced RAN software solutions that employ AI and automation to enable intelligent, real-time network management, improve operational and energy efficiency, deliver superior device and network performance, and create opportunities for new revenue streams through differentiated connectivity services.

By embracing high-performing programmable network architectures, this partnership sets the stage for accelerated innovation and the development of new use cases across Vodafone’s markets. This forward-looking approach will ensure Vodafone’s network infrastructure is fit for the future and adaptable to emerging technologies, solidifying the company’s position as a leader in the global telecommunications landscape.

Airbus and Ericsson have successfully deployed a private 5G solution at the Airbus production site in Hamburg, Germany, with another deployment underway in Toulouse, France. This initiative forms part of Airbus’ ambitious digitalization strategy, aimed at strengthening manufacturing automation, traceability, and operational efficiency, while meeting the sector’s strictest safety and security standards.

The partnership between Ericsson and Airbus leverages Ericsson Private 5G, recognized for its reliability, security, and high performance. The solution’s built-in infrastructure automation enabled rapid deployment across Airbus’ operations, significantly shortening implementation timelines compared to traditional setups. This automation allowed Airbus to scale connectivity quickly and securely across multiple sites. Close collaboration with the Ericsson product team ensured seamless integration, with the solution tailored to Airbus’ IT-tooling and cybersecurity requirements. The design’s modular architecture and API-driven interfaces simplified onboarding into Airbus’s existing systems, accelerating time-to-value and reinforcing robust security controls.

With a fully operational private 5G network now live in Hamburg and deployment at Toulouse underway (to be completed by 2026), this rollout is part of a broader roadmap to extend private 5G across Airbus’ strategic sites in Europe — including further locations in Spain, the United Kingdom, and internationally, with projects in the United States and Canada pending.

This effort reflects Airbus’ commitment to standardizing digital operations and scaling innovation across its global footprint.

Ericsson Private 5G forms the backbone of Airbus’ strategic transformation projects, enabling high-value industrial use cases such as Internet of Things (IoT) integration, intelligent management of critical equipment, real-time quality control, and collaborative robotics. With seamless, full-site coverage with private 5G, machines and operators on the production floor gain true mobility, boosting productivity, process agility, and end-to-end industrial control, all of which are key to realizing the full potential of Industry 4.0.

This new phase underscores Airbus and Ericsson’s commitment to the future of industrial connectivity, featuring advanced 5G Standalone (SA) technology and next-generation deployment models, which are also poised to accelerate 5G usage in office environments. Additionally, joint R&D efforts focus on connected cabins, 6G, and nonterrestrial networks (NTN), enhancing the connectivity ecosystem for aerospace and smart manufacturing applications.

Through this strategic partnership, Airbus and Ericsson are accelerating the digital transformation of the aerospace industry, laying the foundation for the next generation of smart factories — fully connected, scalable, and sharply focused on innovation across Europe and the world.