New Delhi: Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson plans to expand its research and development (R&D) base in India. Company executive Andres Vincent gave this information on Wednesday during the India Mobile Congress 2024. He said that Ericsson is accelerating work on AI, General AI, and Network APIs in India.
Vincent said, "India is an important market for Ericsson and we are proud of what we have achieved so far. We have been manufacturing in India since 1994." He pointed out that the combination of high-performance programmable networks and network APIs, as well as active developer and startup communities, presents a significant growth and innovation opportunity for India.

Vincent further added, "We will invest more in the area of ​​6G, network APIs, and artificial intelligence." R&D teams will focus on programmable/API capabilities to enable advanced use cases such as fraud detection, device management, and security.

Ericsson currently has R&D sites in Chennai, Bengaluru, and Gurgaon, working in telecom areas. Vincent said, "India is a leader in 5G technology." He mentioned that India has provided more than 90 percent coverage by installing about half a million base stations in just 22 months, taking the country's network performance from 86 to 16.

Earlier, Vodafone Idea (Vi) has signed a deal with Swedish company Ericsson under which it is going to buy equipment for its 4G network expansion and 5G rollout in the next three years. Under this new contract, Ericsson will provide 4G and 5G base stations to Vi in 10 markets—Delhi, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Northeast, Assam, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh.