Vodafone is extending its long-standing partnership with Ericsson to deploy a new cloud-native dual-mode 5G Core in the UK.
The dual-mode core supports 5G Standalone, 5G non-Standalone, and 4G.
Andrea Dona, Chief Network Officer at Vodafone UK, said:
“Ericsson has been one of our most trusted and successful partners for many years, and we are thrilled to be taking this critical step forward together.
With this new core delivery, the foundations are being built for our 5G Standalone network, which will enable us to work with customers to deliver innovations that would not be possible otherwise.”
5G Standalone delivers the full capabilities of the latest-generation mobile network—supporting applications which require the fastest connectivity, highest data rates, and minimal latency such as VR/AR.
The performance of 5G Standalone is achieved through being able to run independently of previous generation networks. A 5G Standalone Core enables capabilities including secure network slicing, service exposure, and edge computing.
Vodafone’s first 5G Standalone network was deployed using Ericsson’s technology at Coventry University’s campus back in July 2020. Since then, the partners have delivered an award-winning 5G network in London in addition to connecting other towns and cities across the UK.
Katherine Ainley, CEO of Ericsson UK & Ireland, commented:
“Our 5G industry leadership means Vodafone is positioned to deliver exceptional results for its customers.
We have a deep understanding of Vodafone’s customer and market needs, and with our leading product portfolio, supply chain, field-service expertise and support organisation, we are able to deploy speedily at scale and bring exciting new services to the UK market.
We are proud to be instrumental in making this happen with Vodafone.”
This latest deployment solidifies Ericsson’s position as a key end-to-end 5G network partner for Vodafone in the UK and follows a similar announcement in Germany where Ericsson will also deploy 5G Core infrastructure.
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