Picture credit: Ericsson
Swedish telecommunications leader Ericsson has unveiled a comprehensive new 5G platform designed for early adopters, integrating virtual and augmented reality capabilities to support advanced use cases and business models.
Ericsson estimates the global market opportunity for operators using 5G technology will reach $582 billion by 2026, representing roughly a 34% increase in revenue. The company highlights manufacturing, energy and utilities as the sectors with the greatest near-term growth potential driven by 5G adoption.
The platform combines Ericsson’s 5G core, radio and transport portfolios with digital support systems, transformation services and built-in security. It also supports federated network slices, enabling operators to offer consistent global 5G services while leveraging distributed cloud resources to move workloads closer to the network edge for ultra-low latency applications.
Earlier this month Ericsson, together with SK Telecom and Deutsche Telekom, demonstrated the world’s first intercontinental 5G trial network at Deutsche Telekom’s research and development centre in Bonn. That trial showcased cross-border connectivity and the potential of collaborative operator deployments.
“With this launch, we introduce our 5G platform to support the beginning of a huge change in network capabilities, allowing our customers to offer more advanced use cases and new business models to their customers,” said Arun Bansal, head of Ericsson’s Business Unit Network Products. “It is an important milestone enabling operators to continue their evolution journey to 5G.”
Industry analysts note that moving from legacy infrastructure to cloud-native, software-driven architectures remains a major challenge. In a November column for this publication, Marina Kurth, research director at Gartner, questioned whether Ericsson could accelerate its transition from traditional network infrastructure toward becoming a broader digital infrastructure provider.
Kurth argued the key challenge for technology vendors is not only to deliver new software-driven architectures but to operationalize and monetize cloud-based technologies such as SDN and NFV. That transition requires reworking vertical OSS and BSS stacks into fully automated, horizontal execution environments capable of supporting cloud-native operations.
“The positive for Ericsson is that its legacy network and OSS expertise will remain important,” Kurth wrote, noting that hybrid architectures combining physical and virtual elements are likely to persist for some time before many communications service providers move to fully virtualized infrastructures. She added that Ericsson must continue to build credibility and strengthen its capabilities in cloud, data centre and enterprise domains to succeed in the next phase of network transformation.
Ericsson’s new platform aims to address these challenges by providing an integrated set of network and cloud-native features that help operators accelerate deployment, manage distributed workloads, and monetize emerging services such as AR/VR, industry automation and mission-critical communications. By combining radio, core and transport with digital support systems and transformation services, the company is positioning the platform to support both current hybrid networks and the gradual shift toward more virtualized, software-driven environments.
As operators explore new revenue streams enabled by 5G, Ericsson emphasizes security and operational automation as core elements of the platform. Distributed cloud and federated network slicing are highlighted as technical enablers for low-latency applications, cross-border services and consistent user experiences across regions—capabilities that industries like manufacturing and utilities find particularly valuable for automation, remote management and real-time analytics.
While the industry continues to debate the pace and scope of full virtualization, Ericsson’s announcement underscores the company’s strategy to blend its traditional network strengths with cloud-native innovations—seeking to help operators bridge today’s hybrid environments and the increasingly software-driven networks of the future.