Verizon and Ericsson have expanded their partnership to bring more AI into mobile networks.
As part of the agreement, the telecoms giant has also unveiled plans to roll out Ericsson’s Intelligent Controller (EIC) across Verizon’s US network this year, allowing the company to see AI-powered applications, known as rApps, to improve network performance, manage traffic and make operations more efficient.
The applications will be developed by both Ericsson and Verizon, with the companies already having tested the technology on a live network, seeing improvements in network speed and efficiency through AI-powered traffic management and better use of Massive MIMO technology.
Verizon Vice President Network Planning, Matt Butz, said: “Our expanded collaboration with Ericsson brings AI-native RAN automation that elevates performance across mobility and Fixed Wireless Access.
“Using the Ericsson Intelligent Controller, and Ericsson rApps, in a live environment, we demonstrated AI cell shaping of Massive MIMO and traffic steering with significant gains in throughput and efficiency. Verizon’s ability to self-develop rApps on this open platform will help usher in a new level of automation as we prepare for 6G.”
During testing, Verizon successfully introduced a system that automatically moves Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) devices from LTE to standalone 5G. It can also deal with failed connections without requiring manual intervention.
Ericsson Americas VP and Head of Cloud Software & Services, Ravi Vaidyanathan, added: “We’re proud to deepen our collaboration with Verizon to advance how AI transforms mobile networks. Together, we’re driving major gains in network performance and building a smarter, more efficient and autonomous network, unlocking better customer experiences and transforming operations.”
Verizon will also test and introduce more rApps from Ericsson, including the Cell Anomaly Detector, Root Cause Explainer and Anomaly General Optimiser. These applications will help identify network problems, find their causes and improve performance.
The rollout will support Verizon’s move towards Level 4 network autonomy, allowing more network tasks to be managed automatically with less human involvement.
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