Ericsson scores another 5G win, this time with Deutsche Telekom

It turns out 5G network deal wins are like buses; you wait ages for one then two come along at once.

As a result we find ourselves writing an unfamiliar statement: it has been a good week for Ericsson. Earlier this week the kit vendor proudly announced it was helping Verizon dip its toe in the 5G water with the roll-out of some fixed wireless access infrastructure in the US from next year. Now the still-warm megaphone is in use once more, this time to say Ericsson is helping DT to get its German network ‘5G ready’.

As with the Verizon gig this great achievement does need to be qualified somewhat. DT has only selected Ericsson to 5G-ify its network in one of its two German market areas. Having said that it’s a nice, juicy five-year deal with one of the world’s biggest and most advanced operator groups, which includes the Ericsson Baseband 6630, Ericsson Network Manager for OSS and a bunch of support services.

“We listened to Deutsche Telekom and understood their urgency to have 5G-ready infrastructure in order to stay at the forefront of customer service in Germany,” said Arun Bansal, Head of Market Area Europe and Latin America for Ericsson. “We can run multiple standards on the same baseband hardware and a 5G upgrade will be able to be performed by a simple software download to the radio sites. And, during these deliveries, we will use the experience from our 5G activities around the world to be sure that Deutsche Telekom has the most advanced hardware and software in the industry.”

By themselves, neither of this week’s deals are going to reverse Ericsson’s fortunes. But when you’re trying to turn things around it’s vital to convey the impression that you’re still a viable proposition. Ericsson will be hoping stories like this are shared widely around the industry and that people start speculating whether it has turned the corner.

Ericsson’s whole strategy hinges on 5G, so it’s bound to bang on about any bit of positive 5G-related news it can dig up. That is a sensible communication strategy, but can only be judged to be successful when the quarterly numbers start heading in the right direction. And it’s probably safe to assume we’re going to see a lot more of the term ‘5G-ready’ in the coming months and years.