Ericsson has signed a ‘record breaking’ $8.5bn multi-year deal to supply radio access network (RAN) equipment to Verizon across the United States.
Ericsson’s chief executive Börje Ekholm claims the five-year deal is the largest in the history of the Swedish equipment vendor.
Using Ericsson’s equipment, Verizon plans to “accelerate the deployment of its 5G network throughout the US” having first deployed 5G in 2019. The deal will see Ericsson supply Verizon with its latest 5G RAN technology for C-band, low-band and mmWave spectrum to “boost [its] 5G Ultra Wideband coverage, network performance and user experience”.
The two companies have a long history of working together including last year when Verizon received the first commercial 5G mmWave Street Macro base station from Ericsson's US smart factory in Lewisville, Texas. Ericsson claimed the solutions it will provide in the new deal support both Verizon’s 5G standalone and non-standalone strategies.
Head of Ericsson North America Niklas Heuveldop said: “This is a significant strategic partnership for both companies and what we’re most excited about is bringing the benefits of 5G to U.S. consumers, enterprises and the public sector.
“We’re looking forward to working with Verizon to leverage solutions like Cloud RAN and our Street Macro, adding depth and versatility to 5G network rollouts across the U.S.”
