Finnish telecommunications service provider, Elisa, has selected Ericsson for a comprehensive 5G technology deployment spanning 5G Core and 5G Radio Access Network (RAN).
The new agreement, with an option to extend, includes both 5G Non-standalone (5G NSA) and 5G Standalone (5G SA) products and solutions.
Ericsson Cloud Packet Core products and solutions, are already live in Elisa’s 5G network. As part of the partnership extension, Ericsson is now deploying its dual-mode 5G Core solution to add support for standalone technology in Elisa’s network.
The partnership will also see Ericsson 5G RAN products and solutions, from the Ericsson Radio System portfolio, introduced and deployed in Elisa’s 5G network from 2021. The network operates on 3.5GHz and 26GHz frequency bands.
Ericsson Spectrum Sharing for both 5G Standalone and 5G Non-Standalone will also be deployed as part of the deal. This will enable Elisa to dynamically share 4G and 5G traffic, while significantly enhancing capacity and coverage. Ericsson Spectrum Sharing will also allow Elisa to improve its mid- and high-band coverage through carrier aggregation with 5G in lower bands.
Ericsson and Elisa have a history of innovating together, including close cooperation on 5G. The companies teamed up recently to achieve the Nordics’ first end-to-end 5G standalone connection in Kirkkonummi, Finland. In 2019, the two partners also piloted Ericsson’s private network solution for Elisa’s enterprise customers.
Veli-Matti Mattila, CEO, Elisa
With this partnership our telco automation domain - Elisa Automate and Polystar – also gets Ericsson’s radio network technology as a development platform, which enables new innovations to our automation service portfolio.
Börje Ekholm, President and CEO, Ericsson
Our 5G Core and RAN technology leadership will further enhance Elisa’s ambitions to deliver the benefits of digitalization, the Internet of Things and Industry 4.0 to its customers.
