Ericsson opens R&D unit in Bengaluru to boost 5G development

Swedish telecom gear maker Ericsson on Thursday announced the establishment of a Radio Access Network (RAN) Software Research & Development (R&D) unit in Bengaluru.

The facility will initially focus on developing advanced 5G features for Ericsson's 5G baseband, the company said in a statement.

"Setting up the R&D Center in India for RAN software development represents a significant step towards strengthening our R&D operations in India.

"Even as we leverage Indian software talent, we are also contributing to building the knowledge base and the telecom eco-system in the country," Nitin Bansal, Managing Director, Ericsson India and Head of Network solutions, Market Area South East Asia, Oceania and India, said.

This facility is part of Ericsson's broader R&D expansion in Bengaluru and India, which includes enhancing its capabilities in Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) development.

With R&D centres in Chennai, Bengaluru, and Gurugram, Ericsson's India operations span across telecom domains, including Transport, Packet Core, OSS, BSS, Cloud, and advanced AI technologies.

"This latest Ericsson R&D investment and commitment show how important India is to our work on next-generation technology. We're building on the strong partnerships we've formed in Bengaluru, Chennai, and Gurugram, and for the first time, we're developing this RAN software ourselves in India.

"This is a significant step, as it not only supports India's rising tech scene but also enables us to create solutions in the country that can have a global impact," David Bjore, Head of RAN Software & Compute Platforms, Ericsson, said.