‘Relatively Early’ in 5G Rollouts Globally: Ericsson CEO

5G is "the fastest-scaling mobile technology we have seen" in Ericsson's history, "and deployments around the world have truly accelerated this past year," said CEO Borje Ekholm on a Q4 earnings call Tuesday. Ericsson has 109 live 5G networks globally, plus 170 agreements or contracts with customers on 5G networks yet to be deployed, he said. The strong 5G momentum continues in North America, “where we saw very good development” in the fourth quarter, said Ekholm. Revenue in the region increased 17% year over year to 22.3 billion Swedish kronor ($2.4 billion), “driven by strong demand for 5G,” he said. “It's worth remembering” that during 2021, Ericsson signed new 5G contracts with all tier 1 operators in the U.S., “representing the biggest contracts in our company's history,” he said. “We think we're still relatively early in the 5G rollouts if you look on the globe,” said Ekholm. The characteristics of 5G are “so different from any other mobile technology that, in reality, was only consumer-centric,” he said. “With 5G, we're opening up one completely new field or new segment, being enterprises. So I think we're underestimating the growth potential in 5G."