Ericsson Cites 'Strong Momentum' in 5G, Sees It Initially as 'Capacity Enhancer'

Ericsson is seeing “strong momentum” in its 5G business “with both new contracts and new commercial launches as well as live networks,” CEO Borje Ekholm said Wednesday as the company reported quarterly numbers. “To date, we have provided solutions for almost two-thirds of all commercially launched 5G networks,” he said: “5G momentum is increasing. Initially, 5G will be a capacity enhancer in metropolitan areas. However, over time, new exciting innovations for 5G will come with IoT use cases, leveraging the speed, latency and security 5G can provide. This provides opportunities for our customers to capture new revenues as they provide additional benefits to consumers and businesses.” Quarterly operating profit rose to $395 million from $21 million a year earlier. Ericsson is one of the main rivals to China’s Huawei as a supplier of 5G equipment.