Ericsson Netherlands celebrates 100th anniversary

Ericsson's sales in the Netherlands started in 1892 through the company Nederlandsche Bell Telephoon Maatschappij, which operated the telephone network in major Dutch cities. In 1920, Ericsson became the majority shareholder of a small production company that was founded in 1907, subsequently changing its name to N.V. Nederlandsche Ericsson Telefoonfabrieken.

A milestone: 100 years of Ericsson in the Netherlands

Ericsson and the Netherlands have already reached many milestones together. One hundred years ago, Ericsson supplied all the equipment for one of the first telephone networks of what was then the PTT (Staatsbedrijf der Posterijen, Telegrafie en Telefonie). Ericsson also implemented the very first mobile network (NMT - Nordic Mobile Telephony) in the Netherlands. Bluetooth technology, which connects billions of devices worldwide, was invented in the Ericsson R&D center in Emmen. They were also the first to initiate 3G networks and 4G voice calls in the Netherlands.

Since 2019, Ericsson has a 5G network live on the Ericsson Campus in Rijen, called Ericsson’s ‘+31 Garage’. Ericsson Netherlands made the investment to have the 5G network up and running on the own premises. The company has been developing various use cases here for some time and, together with various Dutch universities and colleges, is testing many 5G applications.

“We have been committed to innovation since day one and we are ready to switch on 5G today.”, says Everth Flores, CEO Ericsson Netherlands. “We are very proud to have been active in the Netherlands for over a century with currently around 900 employees. The developments in a hundred years have gone so fast, it makes us proud when we look back and see what we have achieved and what we have contributed to in recent years. The history of Ericsson and the Netherlands is long, and we are ready to write history together again in the coming decades with new, innovative technology”.

The Netherlands ready for the future

Just like the past 100 years, Ericsson continues to focus on innovation in the Netherlands and the rest of the world. This puts Ericsson at the forefront of 5G.

With 81 commercial 5G contracts with unique operators, including 25 live commercial networks, Ericsson were first to launch live commercial networks across all four continents, including Europe, in all frequency bands. The hardware of the Ericsson radio system has been 5G ready since 2015 to be upgraded to 5G with a remote software installation. Meanwhile, Ericsson delivers more than 4 million 5G-ready radios to customers worldwide and every day the company transmits enough 5G-ready radios to cover a large part of the Randstad.

Ericsson has the right 5G portfolio in place to enable customers to deploy 5G networks in all main frequency bands for global deployment and utilize their valuable spectrum assets in the fastest and the most efficient way. This is proven in live networks with the best performance results, so our customers have every opportunity to be ahead with 5G. Ericsson have built up vast experience and industry leading capabilities to support new and existing customers in transforming their networks. They have the resources and the supply chain capacity to meet fast ramp-up market demands as 5G is introduced globally.

Ericsson are committed to enabling Dutch service providers, industries, and governments to benefit from high-speed, high-quality and trustworthy connectivity. In doing so, they are laying the groundwork for the country’s ’s ongoing digital transformation.

With more than 49,000 granted patents, Ericsson has the industry’s leading intellectual property portfolio in Europe and are leading the development of 5G. In doing so, they are contributing significantly to Europe’s next technology frontiers.

The Netherlands and Sweden have had a strong bond for centuries. “Both countries are world leading, innovative and highly digitalized economies and “early adopters” when it comes to using innovative technology”, says Annika Markovic Sweden’s Ambassador to the Netherlands. “The longstanding relationship that Ericsson has built in the Netherlands over the decades is of great value in this partnership and we foresee a strong, continued collaboration on innovation between Sweden and the Netherlands in the future”.

Note for editors

About Ericsson

Ericsson enables communication service providers to exploit the full potential of connectivity. The company's portfolio consists of networks, digital and managed services and emerging business, and has been developed to help customers with their digitization, increase efficiency and discover new revenue streams. Ericsson's investment in innovation has made billions of people around the world reap the benefits of telephony and mobile broadband. Ericsson is listed on the Nasdaq Stockholm and the Nasdaq New York. For more information, visit www.ericsson.com

For more information:
Ericsson the Netherlands
Sylvia van Haren
email sylvia.van.haren@ericsson.com
tel. +31 6 55 19 66 00

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