Ericsson on Monday announced the signing of a three-year 5G network deal with Russian telecom operator MTS.
Ericsson and MTS will set up 5G demo zones during FIFA 2018 World Cup in Russia to demonstrate the capabilities of 5G and IoT technologies.
In December 2015, Ericsson and MTS announced extensive 5G Memorandum of Understanding. The new contract reflects the confidence of MTS in the 5G capability of Ericsson. Huawei, ZTE and Nokia are also active in 5G networking business and looking for similar deals.
Ericsson, as part of the 5G deal announced on October 23, will deliver the newest software features that will be developed during the next three years as part of the network upgrade project of MTS.
Ericsson said the scope of the agreement also includes 5G-ready radio hardware, Ericsson Radio Systems and core network with the latest Ericsson Mobile Softswitch Solution (MSS), as well as User Data Consolidation (UDC), providing consolidation of user data for all network functions.
These solutions will upgrade the mobile networks for 2G, 3G and 4G. MTS will prepare the network for 5G with Ericsson software for Massive IoT solutions, including NB-IoT and Cat-M1 technologies. This enables a wide range of IoT use-cases including metering and sensor applications.
The agreement supports MTS’s strategy of preparing the network with 5G and IoT-ready hardware to enable a fast commercialization of these technologies. The deployment starts Q4 2017 and total value of the contract is expected to exceed EUR 400 million or $470 million.
In April 2017, MTS and Ericsson demonstrated 5G technology with peak data rates up to 25 Gbit/sec in Moscow.
“Ericsson will supply MTS new equipment enabling our network to deploy first solutions based on 5G technologies starting 2020. After upgrade, MTS network will provide higher data rates, increased capacity and low latency. These characteristics are critical for IoT and digital services that we are starting to implement today,” said Andrey Ushatsky, chief technology officer of MTS.
Ericsson Mobility Report said many telecom operators will deploy 5G commercially from 2020. The number of 5G subscriptions will reach more than 500 million in 2022. The adoption rate of 5G mobile broadband will be reaching around 15 percent population coverage by 2022.
Arun Bansal, head of Ericsson in Europe and Latin America, said early deployment of IoT and 5G technologies positions Russia as an early adopter of the most advanced ICT solutions.
MTS, the largest telecom operator in Russia, is betting on 5G because 5G will be a major technology in booming industrial digitalization, creating and enhancing industry digitalization use cases such as immersive gaming, autonomous driving, remote robotic surgery, and augmented-reality support in maintenance and repair situations.
