Ericsson Bets on New Software to Spur 5G Revenue Growth

A logo of Ericsson is seen outside the company's office in Kanata, Ontario, Canada April 17, 2023. REUTERS/Lars Hagberg/File Photo
A logo of Ericsson is seen outside the company's office in Kanata, Ontario, Canada April 17, 2023. REUTERS/Lars Hagberg/File Photo
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Ericsson Bets on New Software to Spur 5G Revenue Growth

A logo of Ericsson is seen outside the company's office in Kanata, Ontario, Canada April 17, 2023. REUTERS/Lars Hagberg/File Photo
A logo of Ericsson is seen outside the company's office in Kanata, Ontario, Canada April 17, 2023. REUTERS/Lars Hagberg/File Photo

Sweden's Ericsson said on Wednesday it has partnered with Deutsche Telekom to offer software tools for developers and business customers that will allow telecom operators to get more revenue.

Known as network application programming interface (API), the software will use the Vonage platform - a company Ericsson bought for $6.2 billion in 2022 - to help developers create new use cases based on a mobile network.

Network APIs can be used by businesses for things such as boosting 5G speed when needed to locate a customer's phone in a store when a transaction is taking place to prevent fraud, Reuters reported.

"We view the API business as a standalone business in itself, so we need to make that profitable by itself and the way the revenue split works is attractive for us and will be attractive for Deutsche Telekom," Ericsson Chief Executive Borje Ekholm said in an interview.

Telecom research firm STL Partners predicts that revenue from mobile network APIs will grow to over $20 billion by 2028.

More than 140 companies are working under an open source project called CAMARA to define, develop and test network APIs.

After investing hundreds of billions of dollars on 5G infrastructure, telecom operators have been trying to get returns from selling faster connections to businesses to automating factories, with varying success.

"They (operators) want to get more revenue, they will be able to sell features, whether it's speed, latency, location authentication, they are going to sell a lot of different things coming out of the network," Ekholm said.

"That gives a new source of revenue they haven't had for a long time."



Saudi SDAIA, NEOM Partner to Bolster Research and Innovation in AI

SDAIA President Dr. Abdullah Al-Ghamdi and NEOM CEO Nadhmi Al-Nasr signed the MoU during the third edition of the Global AI Summit in Riyadh. (SPA)
SDAIA President Dr. Abdullah Al-Ghamdi and NEOM CEO Nadhmi Al-Nasr signed the MoU during the third edition of the Global AI Summit in Riyadh. (SPA)
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Saudi SDAIA, NEOM Partner to Bolster Research and Innovation in AI

SDAIA President Dr. Abdullah Al-Ghamdi and NEOM CEO Nadhmi Al-Nasr signed the MoU during the third edition of the Global AI Summit in Riyadh. (SPA)
SDAIA President Dr. Abdullah Al-Ghamdi and NEOM CEO Nadhmi Al-Nasr signed the MoU during the third edition of the Global AI Summit in Riyadh. (SPA)

The Saudi Data and AI Authority (SDAIA) signed on Wednesday a memorandum of understanding with NEOM to boost cooperation and exchange expertise in research and innovation within the data and AI sector.

The collaboration aims to support NEOM's objectives as a leading project in developing cognitive cities in the Kingdom.

SDAIA President Dr. Abdullah Al-Ghamdi and NEOM CEO Nadhmi Al-Nasr signed the MoU during the third edition of the Global AI Summit, currently underway in Riyadh from September 10 to 12.

The MoU represents a concerted effort to promote integration between the public and private sectors in the Kingdom in alignment with the objectives of Vision 2030.

Through these partnerships, SDAIA aims to bolster the digital economy and innovation in AI. This approach will elevate the Kingdom's position and realize its economic ambitions in the information, data, and AI sectors.