Swisscom taps Ericsson for 5G RAN framework

Sealing a three-year contract the two parties say will reconfirm their deep partnership for “robust, reliable and efficient” telecom cloud infrastructure, Swisscom has invested in Ericsson technology to drive the next period of growth and energy-efficient performance of its 5G network in Switzerland.

For the past seven years, the operator has been raked as market leader in the connect magazine (and umlaut measuring institute) mobile network test that principally indicates the reliability and performance of mobile networks. Swisscom’s infrastructure has evolved in recent years under its cloud-native transformation plans.

In addition to looking to provide what it calls an “outstanding” 5G experience to its users, with these new additions to its network, Swisscom said it’s also reinforcing its focus on sustainability by implementing products and offerings that improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions.

The agreement will see the introduction of Ericsson Intelligent Automation Platform (EIAP) to provide multi-technology network management and automation for the Swisscom network. The tech firm said adoption of the platform means Swisscom can take advantage of its portfolio of rApps, including AI-powered Cognitive Software, as well as those available from other contributors to the open EIAP rApp Ecosystem.

The EIAP ecosystem and software development toolkit (SDK) is regarded as having the potential to be “an essential tool” for Swisscom to enhance its subscribers’ service experience while delivering operational savings through industrial scale automation in the radio access network. Ericsson said the focus on subscriber experience will be further boosted by Swisscom’s renewal of its Expert Analytics deployment. Based on machine-learning and artificial intelligence technology, it analyses and resolves potential subscriber issues in real time to ensure quality of service for users.

The contract will also see the introduction of Ericsson’s dual-band Radio 4490, as well as a next-generation RAN processor from Ericsson’s RAN Compute portfolio. With the capacity to serve all new and existing radio technologies from a single box, Ericsson RAN Compute processor boasts low energy consumption, and has the ability to support real-time artificial intelligence processing without capacity loss. Swisscom further aims to equip a large number of sites with Massive MIMO technology in the next three years as part of the continued effort to expand mid-band TDD coverage further.

Ericsson has already provided Swisscom with its Network Functions Virtualisation Infrastructure service to support its telecom applications. With the deal, the service provider will now take on Cloud Native Infrastructure. Another development stream is marked by continuous spectrum refarming to New Radio, with which the service provider prepares its network for 5G Standalone deployment with the possibility of launching new services.

For Swisscom, the deployment is intended to further enhance the network’s reliability and expand its ability to host cloud-native telecom applications from Ericsson, as well as from third-party providers. It will also look to reduce the overheads needed to manage the cloud platform and infrastructure, introduce further energy efficiencies, and optimise the total cost of ownership overall.

The deployment will also encompass partner companies such as Extreme Networks and Dell Technologies, which contribute components, infrastructure and capabilities to the offering, all collaboratively engaged to ensure Swisscom and its subscribers enjoy the best possible network performance.

“We’ve been working closely with Ericsson for over 10 years with a great amount of trust and success,” said Swisscom chief technology information officer Gerd Niehage. “We are now taking the next step in this long-standing strategic partnership as we endeavour to turn Switzerland’s best network into its smartest one. This will enable us to not only offer our customers the best customer experience, but also to place an even greater focus on sustainability and innovation.”