Ericsson and Swisscom Partnership Extension to Include 5G Standalone

Swisscom has strengthened its long-term strategic partnership commitment to Ericsson with a deal extension focusing on continued 5G deployment, including 5G Standalone rollout. 5G Standalone will enable the operator to deliver even better network performance and new use cases to its customers.

Swisscom and Ericsson began the strategic partnership in 2015, extending it to include 5G in 2017. The partners have now renewed the deal with the ambition of continuing to lead 5G transformation in Europe. The deal includes a defined scope to enhance customer experience through a high-bandwidth network, AI/ML powered design and optimization and innovative solutions over the next three years.

The partnership extension is a major step towards transitioning Swisscom’s live 5G network to 5G Standalone mode with cloud-native dual-mode 5G Core to include container-based  Cloud Packet Core and Cloud Unified Data Management and Policy. The new contract will see Swisscom taking advantage of Ericsson’s entire 5G portfolio in a bid to further develop one of the best mobile networks in the world. 5G will be the key enabler.

Through increasing automation, AI/ML, cognitive software for network optimization and cloud native infrastructure, customers will be able to utilize the 5G benefits of even higher speeds, lower latencies and network slicing. The deal also covers Ericsson Radio System products and solutions, including 5G NR carrier aggregation and 5G RAN Slicing.

The renewed contract is the latest in a long list of successful engagements between the partners. Together, they switched on the first European commercial 5G network in April 2019. As of April 2021, 96 percent of the Swiss population is covered by Swisscom 5G. The partners recently made the first voice and data calls over a commercial 5G Standalone network in Europe, giving the green light to continued network evolution.