Ericsson and Cisco extend strategic partnership to include new Wi-Fi solutions

Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) and Cisco are extending their strategic partnership to include a new Wi-Fi solution offering, named Evolved Wi-Fi Networks (EWN). EWN combines Ericsson’s 3GPP access, core networks and applications with Cisco’s Wi-Fi portfolio, to provide reliable Wi-Fi with the highest performance to Ericsson’s mobile, cable and other industries customers.

The offering will include pre-integrated and verified solutions and will offer a range of benefits:

• Indoor Small Cells: Combining indoor Ericsson access networks with Cisco® WLAN enables deployment in venues of both Wi-Fi and cellular connectivity.
• Operator Wi-Fi: Allowing operators who have outdoor Ericsson access networks to use Cisco WLAN to offer access to their subscribers.
• Traffic Steering: Integrating Cisco WLAN with either Ericsson macro or indoor access networks via Ericsson’s unique Real Time Traffic Steering feature enables operators to steer users between mobile and Wi-Fi access networks, ensuring the best end-user experience.
• Core Network Integration: Integrating Cisco WLAN into Ericsson packet core using trusted configurations will allow operators to offer all their core network services over Wi-Fi for multimode devices. Ericsson’s highly successful Wi-Fi Calling capabilities already deliver seamless voice mobility over Cisco WLAN.

Rima Qureshi, Head of Region North America with responsibility for the strategic partnership with Cisco, Ericsson, says: “Our strategic partnership brings together the capabilities of two leading players in networking, mobility and cloud, creating the best end-to-end solutions and opportunities for our customers. By adding Wi-Fi solutions into the partnership, we will enable our customers to offer best-in-class Wi-Fi in their networks, complemented by our leading 3GPP portfolio and services organization.”

Yvette Kanouff, SVP & GM of the Service Provider Business Unit, Cisco, says: “With Wi-Fi traffic predicted to grow to 50 percent of the total IP traffic by 2020, a top priority for service providers is to deliver the best possible connected experiences to their customers. Through our extended strategic partnership with Ericsson, we are committed to providing Wi-Fi solutions of the highest quality performance and reliability.”

The design and deployment of solutions based on the new offering will be handled by Ericsson’s services organization, with full product support from Cisco. Ericsson’s capability to offer worldwide services will allow operators to adopt new business models and expand into new markets. EWN can be offered as a fully managed service with the global reach of more than 180 countries. This enables faster rollout times and ease of adaption of the solution.

Ericsson and Cisco - two industry leaders in the development and delivery of networking, mobility, and cloud - formed a global business and technology partnership in November 2015 to create the networks of the future. The partnership offers customers the best of both companies: routing, datacenter, networking, cloud, mobility, management and control, and global services capabilities. The next-generation strategic partnership will drive growth, accelerate innovation, and speed digital transformation demanded by customers across industries. To date, over 250 active customer engagements have now started to turn into won deals. More than 60 deals, spread around the world, are in IP (routing and transport) and services. The companies announced deals with 3 Italy, Vodafone Portugal, Aster Dominican Republic and Cable & Wireless in Caribbean in 2016.