Setting the standard
From the first analog systems to 2G, 3G, 4G, and now on to 5G: our collaborations with global industry and academia have played a crucial role in developing a standard that meets the needs of different industries, and the society. By fulfilling their needs, we assist in making them technologically strong for the future.
With new techniques and technology, we are at the forefront of developing the 5G technology. Groundbreaking innovations and great people make Ericsson one of the leading providers and a recognized leader in 3GPP and by other major standardization organizations.
Every innovation has its own story, with experts challenging traditional ways of thinking. Staying true to it, we continuously set open standards to make communications and connections possible, significantly impacting people, other industries, and our society.
What is standardization?
Creating a cohesive innovation platform
In 2012, Ericsson prepared the first draft of an initial 5G standard, detailing its rationale, goals, requirements and scope. These basic 5G principles were aligned with the major cellular players, and are now taken for granted when mentioning a 5G system.
Alongside developing the 5G standard, we are considering how these global standards complement a networked society – a world where everything benefits from being connected. Global standards are fundamental to ubiquitous connectivity in the ICT industry, particularly as globally-standardized technologies ensure worldwide interoperability between networks, devices and operators. These have already proved a successful means of making technology more affordable for mainstream users.
The key domains of the 5G system are wider than previous generations, including support for network slicing, wireless and wired access, transport, cloud, applications, management and orchestration. With network slicing, different verticals – such as railway, public safety, industry automation, vehicle-to-vehicle and utilities – can have their own specific requirements implemented in the same network.
As these structures converge, we are placed in a unique position to lead the development of new standards for all major mobile and fixed communication systems. This creates an innovation platform; that is, a network for all industries and society.
"We cannot be sure about the use cases in 5G and how they will work out, but what we know is that we are moving the technical boundaries forward, creating the biggest innovation platform ever."
- Ulf Ewaldsson, Ericsson's CTO at the time, speaking at the Mobile World Congress 2017
