Ericsson said it will continue to supply the hardware and software for Swisscom’s network under the extended deal

Swiss telco Swisscom and Swedish vendor Ericsson announced they have extended their strategic partnership for another three years.

In a release, the vendor said it will continue to supply the hardware and software for Swisscom’s network. This partnership will enable Swisscom to enhance its customer experience and further develop its mobile network over the next three years, with a focus on sustainability, the Nordic vendor said.

Through automation, the use of artificial intelligence (AI), and increased innovation, the network will be further modernized under the extended agreement, Ericsson added.

Gerd Niehage, CTIO at Swisscom, said: “We’ve been working closely with Ericsson for over 10 years with a great amount of trust and success. We are now taking the next step in this long-standing strategic partnership as we endeavor to turn Switzerland’s best networkits smartest one. This will enable us to not only offer our customers the best customer experience, but also to place an even greater focus on sustainability and innovation.”

Daniel Leimbach, head of Customer Unit Western Europe at Ericsson, said: “Our common goal is to raise the bar even higher and continue to develop Switzerland’s best networkits smartest one. We have already set important benchmarks for the global development of the telecommunications market from within Switzerland in recent years.”

The new deal will see the introduction of Ericsson’s dual-band Radio 4490 as well as the vendor’s next-generation RAN processor from Ericsson’s RAN Compute portfolio, designed to serve all technologies from a single box and supporting real-time AI processing.

The agreement also includes deployment of Ericsson’s Massive MIMO portfolio across multiple sites with the main aim of expanding coverage. It also will bring network improvements from the introduction of Ericsson’s Cloud Native Infrastructure Solution (CNIS) to support telecom applications across the business.

Earlier this year, Swisscom confirmed it had enteredbinding agreements with U.K carrier Vodafone Group for the acquisition of 100% of Vodafone Italia for EUR 8 billion ($8.71 billion) on a debt and cash free basis.

Swisscom said it aims to merge Vodafone Italia with Italian telco Fastweb, Swisscom’s subsidiary in Italy.

Swisscom noted that the transaction is a key step for the company to achieve its strategic objective of profitable growth in Italy. Through this transaction Swisscom reinforces its presence in the Italian market, where it has been operating since 2007 through Fastweb. The transaction remains subject to regulatory and other customary approvals, the Swiss carrier said, adding that the transaction is expected to be fully completed in the first quarter of 2025.

The deal also stipulates that Swisscom and Vodafone Group explore a closer commercial relationship to enable collaboration across a broad range of areas, beyond Italy. The key areas of commercial collaboration that Vodafone and Swisscom are exploring include IoT, enterprise services and solutions, procurement, operational shared services and roaming.