Ekholm Argues that the AI Era Requires SA 5G

President and CEO of Ericsson, Borje Ekholm, explained during MWC26 that the industry is entering a new era driven by surging AI demand and growth in connected devices. He emphasized that high-performance applications now require standalone 5G.

Ekholm noted 5G had so far been mostly deployed in non-standalone form, but said the shift to SA means the industry can realise the promise of the service-based architecture and the ability to move to the cloud. He was joined by Singtel CEO Yuen Kuan Moon, who highlighted that network slicing is presenting fresh revenue generation opportunities across security, factories, airports, and ports. “I think we are just scratching the surface here. If we do this well, there’s a lot of opportunity,” he said.

Ekholm said he is excited about the new era, which also puts demands on Ericsson. “We have to make sure that we supply the best networks for AI, to scale AI to enterprises, to public service, and to other mission-critical applications.” He pointed to network APIs-focused joint venture Aduna as an important example of bringing the industry together to form ecosystems.