Three UK taps Ericsson to replace Nokia in its core networkThree UK taps Ericsson to replace Nokia in its core network

Three says it will be the largest cloud-native core network in Europe and will more than triple its core capacity to 9 terabits per second (Tbps). The operator drafted Nokia to upgrade its network with a fully cloud-based 5G-ready core back in 2019 as it prepared to launch 5G services, and Affirmed Networks was also in the mix for traffic management duties.

Data usage on Three’s network has ‘exploded’ in recent years, we’re told in the release, surpassing 2Tbps in December 2024 thanks to Premier League streaming on Amazon Prime and gaming updates. “This comes just over two years after reaching 1Tbps, a milestone which took almost two decades to reach,” it states. Three's customers used an average of 31.5GB per month throughout 2024, which was up 18% YoY and said to be 2.4x the national average.

The new core network, running on Ericsson’s dual-mode 5G Core solution and its Cloud Native Infrastructure solution, will sit on Three’s nationwide distributed data centre network, which the operator says brings it closer to its customers which will improve latency.

“The last few years have seen a tsunami of data growth with traffic at peak times doubling in a little over two years driven by home broadband, streaming and gaming usage on our network grow faster than ever,” said Iain Milligan, Chief Network Officer at Three. “Our new core network with Ericsson ensures we are able to support our customers’ data usage over the medium and long-term.”

Katherine Ainley, CEO of Ericsson UK & Ireland added: “We are incredibly proud to support Three UK in this next stage of their network transformation. Our longstanding partnership with Three is one built on trust, innovation, and a shared commitment to delivering exceptional mobile experiences. This project is a significant milestone in our collaboration, and we're excited to help Three build a new Core network to meet the ever-growing data demands of their customers.”

The infrastructure and core network is currently being installed in Three’s data centres and will be partially operational by the end of this year, we’re told, “with a careful migration of all traffic over the next few years.”

While core is a much smaller revenue business than RAN equipment, this will clearly be taken as a win for Ericsson. Light Reading reports that Three’s mobile data core has been up for tender since 2023, and a little while before that Nokia said it would be exiting the cloud infrastructure market to focus on applications development – which might go some way to explain why Ericsson has now been handed the contract.

The fact Vodafone UK, who after a lengthy process Three is set to merge with, also uses Ericsson for its core is presumably not irrelevant either.