Ericsson has signed agreements for credit facilities for a total of $370 million as part of its focused strategy to increase its investments to secure technology leadership in 5G, IoT and digital service.
Ericsson signed with the Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) for USD 220 million, maturing in 2023, and AB Svensk Exportkredit (SEK) for USD 150 million, maturing in 2025. Of these new funds, 98 million will replace credit with NIB that was set to mature in 2019, said Ericsson.
In addition to strengthening Ericsson’s balance sheet and financial flexibility, these new funds support R&D activities to further develop 5G and other mobile innovations. Mobile networks are evolving to deliver superior mobile broadband and communication services with increased data rates, improved coverage, availability and quality that will open-up for new services and business opportunities.
To build on its technology leadership, Ericsson said it has invested SEK 31.6 billion in R&D in 2016.
Erik Ekudden, CTO, Ericsson
Already now we have 38 operators engaged with us on developing and preparing for 5G networks. This is more than any other company. In the coming years, we will see 5G networks going live around the world, with major deployments from 2020 and we believe that there will be one billion 5G subscriptions by the end of 2023.
