Telenor Norway will be all Ericsson for 5G RAN

Norwegian supplier Telenor has actually revealed that Ericsson will be the sole vendor for its 5G radio access network, kicking out incumbent Huawei.

” We are pleased to introduce that we have actually selected Ericsson to begin constructing the future 5G radio network in Norway, and I am confident we now are perfectly positioned to be in the forefront of the country’s network modernisation,” stated Petter-Børre Furberg, CEO of Telenor Norway.

“As the first mobile operator on 5G in Scandinavia, Telenor will ramp up the roll out of 5G to our customers in Norway in 2020. The full modernisation of the mobile network in Norway is an ambitious undertaking, and something we are excited to get started on.”

A wholesale modification of vendors such as this, is a complicated procedure if you want to stay clear of any type of disturbance to the service. The modernisation of the RAN, which presently makes use of totally Huawei, is anticipated to take 4-5 years. So Huawei will remain in play throughout that time. That implies this is a business decision rather than a security one,  which follows the Norwegian federal governments noticeable decision not to ban Huawei from 5G.

“We expect 5G to be the one technology that will transform our society the most in the next decade,” said Sigve Brekke, CEO of Telenor Group. “We have been through a thorough process to evaluate all the main vendors’ ability to deliver on Telenor’s requirements for the future mobile network.

“When selecting the vendor for the radio access network, we have considered important factors like technical quality, ability to innovate and modernise the network, commercial terms and conditions, as well as carried out an extensive security evaluation. Based on the comprehensive and holistic evaluation, we have decided to introduce a new partner for this important technology shift in Norway.”

This news comes hot on the heels of Telia Norway making exactly the same choice, so Ericsson has Norway practically sewn up when it involves RAN for the future. Regarding the core Ericsson it will exist together with Nokia and will stay that way even with 5G. For Huawei, being frozen out of a market in which it is being allowed to compete freely must be a significant blow.