EE, part of the BT Group, has begun deployment of Ericsson’s ultra-lightweight radios to deliver improved 5G energy efficiency and network performance across the UK.
EE’s first deployments of the equipment are in London, with sites in Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh, and Belfast to follow this year. The improved technology will be expanded to more urban and suburban areas in the future, where Ericsson is a key partner for EE. Operating within EE’s 3.4GHz and upper 3.6GHz spectrum bands, the new radio will initially be deployed over 1,000 sites, not only offering substantial energy efficiencies but also improving capacity, coverage, speed and mobile experience for customers.
Ericsson’s AIR 3268 is the lightest and smallest Massive MIMO radio with up to 40 percent less weight (14kg) and volume (25 litres) than Ericsson's previous generation of radio.
Greg McCall, Chief Networks Officer, BT Group, said: “We’ve already made significant progress in making EE a more efficient network, delivering vast quantities of additional data without equivalent energy increases. Our partnership with Ericsson is a further milestone in this journey, enabling us not only to accelerate our 5G roll-out in city centres, but to do so in a more sustainable way. That’s good for us, but also incredibly important to our customers and the planet.”
Björn Odenhammar, CTO, Networks and Managed Services, Ericsson UK and Ireland, said: “It is incredibly exciting to see our partnership with BT Group succeed with such fantastic results. This is a great step forward for the deployment of 5G in the UK and gives a much-needed boost in both 5G coverage and mid-band performance. Together we are not only leading the delivery of next-generation connectivity across the country, but also reducing energy consumption to build a more sustainable mobile network of the future.”
