Swisscom has selected Ericsson as a strategic Gigabit LTE and 5G supplier as it decides to make a total digital transformation and evolution of its entire network to deploy Gigabit LTE and 5G throughout Switzerland from 2018 and 2020, respectively.

By deploying Gigabit LTE and 5G network, Swisscom wants to give its customers an “extraordinary” mobile broadband experience. As part of the new partnership, Ericsson will transform Swisscom’s mobile operations by using its full stack telco cloud solution including network slicing capabilities.

Both Swisscom and Ericsson in June 2017 exhibited applications based on 5G network slicing and NB-IoT. These technologies along with the introduction of Gigabit LTE and 5G network will not only bolster the competitiveness of the country’s economy but will also drive the digitisation of Switzerland.

Arun Bansal, SVP and Head of Europe and Latin America at Ericsson, said: “This agreement is a prime example of our leadership in 5G and will take our partnership with Swisscom to the next level. Swisscom has been leading all generations of mobile technologies – from 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G development – in partnership with us, and now they will continue to lead the market with Gigabit LTE and 5G deployment. 5G is enabling new market opportunities for operators, industries and society as a whole. With its ambitious 5G rollout plans, Swisscom is seizing this opportunity.”

Heinz Herren, CIO and CTO at Swisscom, said: “We would like to offer the best network to our customers in Switzerland – today and in the future. That's why we invest massively in the latest mobile network technologies such as Gigabit LTE and 5G.”