From LTE-B to 5G, Ericsson is on a mission to create a networked society.
Ericsson is the largest global supplier of LTE technology in the world with over one billion subscribers to its managed network services in 180 countries.
In this edition of “Digs,” RCRtv takes you inside the North American headquarters of the influential telecommunications company in Plano, Texas. We explore the Experience Center to see Ericsson’s latest projects and innovations and get a first look at the company’s new 5G mobile testbed.
In the Experience Center, Keith Shank, director of Ericsson’s Advanced Technology Lab takes us through Ericsson’s diverse portfolio of products including connected TV and media solutions, 5G and cloud solutions.
The experience center in Plano is one of five in the world and is built to efficiently address the customer’s needs. “We can strip this up to see what the customer is interested in and broadly show off all the areas of interest for that customer,” Shank explains.
Ericsson is also involved in outdoor small cell deployments. “We build everything from sites that blend into shopping malls so it looks like a clock towers or something like that to even, we’ve partnered with Phillips to develop outdoor lighting systems that cities can deploy and then lease out the space in them to put radios in or the operators can deploy it and provide it back to the city,” Shank explains.
Ericsson key facts:
- Founded in 1876 by Lars Magnus Ericsson.
- World headquarters in Stockholm Sweden.
- Home to 118,055 employees worldwide, 4,000 work in Plano, Texas.
- 40% of the global mobile traffic is carried over Ericsson’s networks.
- Owner of 37,000 patents (May, 2015)
- $32.89 billion market capitalization
- $33.1 billion revenue (2104)
Shank says Ericsson prides itself on its open and collaborative culture. “Ericsson is an interesting blend of cultures. From the Swedish, very pragmatic, everyone wants to collaborate,” he says. “It’s very much an open top organization. Meaning there is very low architecture to the company. You can go in and speak to anyone at any time. Ideas are allowed to grow with you and you are allowed to drive how you want to take your career.”
In the end, Shank says, “What Ericsson is looking for is imagination and drive, along with the skill set understood in ICT, so really a lot of the ICT backend is where the future we see moving.”
For a first look at Ericsson new 5G mobile device, check out this video.
Go here to hear Ericsson’s VP of Business and Operations Solutions explain OSS/BSS,