Ericsson will provide IoT and 5G-related equipment and software for a total of $471 million
Ericsson has signed an agreement with Russian operator MTS to modernize the telco’s network infrastructure in order to pave the way for future IoT and 5G deployments.
Under the terms of the agreement, which will extend until 2020, Ericsson will supply MTS with equipment and software for the core network and radio access network in a number of regions of Russia for a total amount of more than 400 million euros ($471 million)
The Russian operator said the introduction of new software and hardware ready for support of IoT and 5G will allow MTS to upgrade 2G, 3G, and LTE MTS networks in Volga, Northwestern, Siberian, Ural and Southern districts. MTS also said that the total volume of products and services to be purchased from Ericsson may amount to almost 2 billion euros during the extension of the contract.
“We have reached a new agreement with Ericsson, which will supply MTS 5G ready new equipment enabling our network to deploy first solutions based on 5G technologies starting 2020. After upgrade, our MTS network will provide higher data rates, increased capacity and low latency. These characteristics are critical for IoT and digital services that we are starting to implement today,” said Andrei Ushatskiy, VP of Technology and IT, at MTS.
“Ericsson supports MTS in the company’s goals to meet growing capacity needs and be ready for huge opportunities that will come with 5G and IoT. 5G will be a major technology in booming industrial digitalization, creating and enhancing industry digitalization use cases such as immersive gaming, autonomous driving, remote robotic surgery, and augmented-reality support in maintenance and repair situations,” said Arun Bansal, head of Ericsson in Europe and Latin America at Ericsson.
Under the deal, Ericsson will also deliver software solutions for the mass deployment of IoT, providing data transfer from counters and sensors using NB-IoT and Cat-M1 technologies.
This agreement between MTS and Ericsson is an important step towards a large-scale commercial development of IoT and 5G in Russia, the telco said During the FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia Ericsson and MTS will deploy demo zones using the 5G technology solutions.
