Ericsson has signed agreements for credit facilities with the Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) for USD 220 million, maturing in 2023, and AB Svensk Exportkredit (SEK) for USD 150 million, maturing in 2025.
These new funds support R&D activities to further develop 5G and other mobile innovations. Mobile networks are evolving to deliver superior mobile broadband and communication services with increased data rates, improved coverage, availability and quality that will open-up for new services and business opportunities.
As part of their focused strategy Ericsson is increasing its investments to secure technology leadership in 5G, IoT and digital services. Already now, they have 38 operators engaged with them on developing and preparing for 5G networks, more than any other company. In the coming years, Ericsson will see 5G networks going live around the world, with major deployments from 2020 and believes that there will be one billion 5G subscriptions by the end of 2023.
Key for success in the telecom industry is the delivery of future-proof, high-quality networks and solutions. To build on its technology leadership, Ericsson invested SEK 31.6 billion in R&D in 2016. It is the key contributor in the development of open telecom standards, with some 42,000 patents held by end of 2016.
