Ericsson, a leading communications service provider, and T-Mobile have announced a multi-year $3.5 billion contract to support T-Mobile’s nationwide 5G network deployment.

Under the deal, Ericsson will provide T-Mobile with the latest 5G New Radio (NR) hardware and software compliant with 3GPP standards, said a statement.

Bridging from a nationwide LTE Advanced network to 5G, T-Mobile will leverage Ericsson’s market-leading 5G portfolio to expand existing LTE capacity needs while future-proofing the network, it said.

The contract also encompasses Ericsson’s digital services solutions, including dynamic orchestration, business support systems (BSS) and Ericsson Cloud Core, enabling T-Mobile to rapidly launch innovative and groundbreaking 5G experiences to customers, it added.

Neville Ray, chief technology officer, T-Mobile, said: “While the other guys just make promises, we’re putting our money where our mouth is. With this new Ericsson agreement we’re laying the groundwork for 5G – and with Sprint we can supercharge the 5G revolution.”

Niklas Heuveldop, president and head of Ericsson North America, said: “We have recently decided to increase our investments in the US to be closer to our leading customers and better support them with their accelerated 5G deployments; thereby bringing 5G to life for consumers and enterprises across the country.”

“This agreement marks a major milestone for both companies. We are excited about our partnership with T-Mobile, supporting them to strengthen, expand and speed up the deployment of their nationwide 5G network,” he added.

5G promises to deliver very high data speeds, extreme low latency, ultra-high reliability, energy efficiency and extreme device densities, which will be realized by the development of LTE in combination with new radio-access technologies.

Under the terms of the new deal, Ericsson will supply hardware and software from its market-ready 5G Platform, which includes its strengthened Ericsson Radio System portfolio, across all spectrum bands available to T-Mobile.

Additionally, T-Mobile’s already installed base of Ericsson Radio System radios will be able to run 5G NR technology with simple remote software installation, it stated. – TradeArabia News Service