Ericsson Secures €250m 5G Finance Package from EIB

Ericsson has secured a €250 million credit agreement with the European Investment Bank. Ericsson will use the funds to press ahead with developing its 5G network solutions.

“We are very pleased to announce the new funding from the European Investment Bank. It will support our research and development activities for 5G and extend our debt maturity profile,” said Carl Mellander, chief finance officer of Ericsson.

Ericsson will be instrumental in implementing the rollout of fifth generation networks, particularly in Europe and the US, and showcased its ultra low latency 5G technology at this year’s Mobile World Congress. Ericsson holds around 45,000 patents and has more than 23,600 staff actively working on 5G research and development.

“The development of 5G technology is easily one of the most important innovation initiatives for the telecom industry in the coming years. Ericsson has been one of the defining contributors to what mobile telephony is today and I think we can only be proud to support this. Apart from supporting European technology, this project will also make sure that thousands of highly-skilled jobs will stay in the EU,” said Alexander Stubb, vice president of the European Investment Bank.

While operators in the US and Asia are eyeing 2019 for commercial 5G rollout, European operators are expected to begin the process in 2020.  – Total Telecom