Stockholm-based Ericsson will partner with T-Mobile in a $3.5 billion deal to help the U.S. telecommunications firm deploy its 5G wireless network, the companies said Tuesday.
The partnership comes as Chinese and U.S. businesses rush to launch the fifth-generation wireless technology, which will supply cellular connections with speed and power previously available only through hardwired connections or WiFi networks. T-Mobile, the nation’s third-largest carrier, aims to introduce the network in 30 cities in 2018.
The Ericsson deal follows a separate equipment agreement in July between the Bellevue, Wash.-based carrier and Nokia, also valued at $3.5 billion. T-Mobile is simultaneously awaiting federal approval for its merger with Sprint, a deal the companies say will allow the two firms to have the most robust 5G network available.
“This new Ericsson agreement, we’re laying the groundwork for 5G — and with Sprint we can supercharge the 5G revolution,” Neville Ray, T-Mobile’s chief technology officer, said in a statement.
The potential profits from the technology have spurred a race among the top U.S. firms to offer the first nationwide network.
On Monday, AT&T announced it would roll out 5G in five cities this year — Houston, Jacksonville, Louisville, New Orleans, and San Antonio -— bringing the total number to 12 cities for 2018. The company is also partnering with Ericsson and Nokia, as well as Samsung.
Verizon Wireless is slated to launch 5G trials in four U.S. cities in 2018.
