A strong framework that ensures effective and efficient protection of IPR, is a necessary basis to incentivize companies to innovate and to encourage them to invest in risky research. Crucially, it enables innovators to obtain a fair return on their investments, which is necessary to sustain long-term research and standard development efforts. Any weakening of the patent system or FRAND licensing framework, including the denial of reasonable royalties to inventors, could break the cycle of innovation. This would disincentivize companies from participating in standardization, which could lead to a system of siloed, monopolized proprietary technology and stagnated innovation.
Did you know?
Ericsson on average invests 20% of its revenues in R&D.
25% of all 5G/NR RAN1-RAN2 contributions from 2016-2023 list Ericsson as co-author.
The unit price of wireless data in the US has decreased approximately 60% since 2020 thanks to the introduction of 5G (BCG).
By the end of 2025 there were 8,8 billion mobile subscriptions worldwide.
The benefits of FRAND licensing for global consumers of mobile products and services.
FRAND licensing and the cycle of innovation that stems from it ensure consumers have access to innovative technologies and better connectivity across different regions and geographies.
- Reasonable prices: the global FRAND based ecosystem provides reasonable prices and enables scalable manufacturing and leading edge standardization, reducing production costs and making devices and services better performing and more affordable.
- Greater choice: By allowing all companies to access standard essential technologies at fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms, FRAND fosters competition, in turn allowing consumers a wider range of innovative products and services.
- Better innovation: A collaborative framework also encourages more innovators to compete and contribute to open innovation efforts, leading to the development of more advanced and effective technologies.
- Global access: FRAND supports open standards that work across borders, enabling seamless connectivity and interoperability for consumers worldwide.
As 5G continues to roll out globally, and consumers’ demand for connectivity soars, businesses and organizations alike will be able to rely on a framework that will provide access to wireless technology on FRAND terms.
This is also critical to unlock the adoption of AI worldwide at the consumer level, with convenience, ease of use and intelligence of devices becoming key for users. A strong patents and licensing system allows innovators to share their technological advances globally in a way that rewards those innovators on reasonable terms while fuelling the next wave of innovation.
The benefits of wireless standards for AI and competitiveness
To allow for the broad uptake of AI, fast, secure and reliable connectivity is key. This required level of performance can only be delivered by next generation networks such as 5G Standalone—and later 6G—built on global, open, industry-driven standards and supported by leading edge innovation. Standardized connectivity provides an open, interoperable system that lets different devices and networks work together at scale and thereby allow different sectors to be connected and create new products and services. At the same time, a strong IPR framework with efficient patent protection and effective FRAND licensing models promote the long-term investment incentives needed to further advance these connectivity standards.
Safeguarding the open, consensus-based global standardization model and the FRAND licensing ecosystem is therefore critical to enable widespread, AI-driven services across the economy. Otherwise, we risk reverting to fragmented or proprietary solutions which may not be accessible for all, or only accessible at unfair, unreasonable, or discriminatory prices.