Ekholm Warns on 5G Fragmentation

Borje Ekholm, Ericsson CEO, urged authorities to ensure geopolitical issues do not cause a split of the global communications ecosystem. He said that this could hamper innovation and limit applications for 5G technology.

Speaking at the Ericsson Unboxed 2020 event, Ekholm highlighted the importance of interoperable infrastructure in providing a huge potential base for 5G use cases and applications, with fragmentation in the industry a potential stumbling block. Referring to moves in various countries to ban specific vendors from supplying 5G equipment, he pointed to the importance of competition in aiding innovation.

He said bans start to fragment the market, noting current technologies are based on an open global standard with more than 8 billion interoperable connections. “This has provided massive opportunities for innovation,“ he added. “I would really hope we can keep this together and not end up with a fragmented internet.“