Canada: Ericsson Partners with Canadian Government to Invest $351M in 5G and 6G Research and Development

A five-year agreement between the Canadian government and the Swedish vendor Ericsson will see more than $351 million invested in two research and development facilities in Ottawa, Ontario, and Montreal, Quebec. To enhance mobile networks, the investment will concentrate on 5G Advanced, 6G, Cloud RAN, core networks, quantum computing, and AI. According to Ericsson, this investment will generate hundreds of jobs, as well as opportunities to upskill current workers. The corporation has been in business for 70 years in Canada and invests an average of $258 million in R&D there each year. Up to 60 more interns may be hired year as a result of the extra investment, for a total of 300 throughout the course of the relationship.

Justin Trudeau, the prime minister of Canada, hailed the collaboration and stated that it was another proof that Canadian workers have the expertise the world needs to build faster and more secure Internet connection and other wireless services. They are building up the middle class, supporting innovation, and ensuring that Canada continues to be a technological leader in the world as they promote innovation. With a total floor area of 269,000 square feet, Ericsson's Ottawa campus is its primary North American location. Over 46,000 square feet of that space are devoted completely to lab activities, including the recently opened Ericsson Open Lab, where cloud RAN and virtualized 5G technologies are researched.

Recently, Ericsson reported its first-quarter core results, which above forecasts due to greater 5G equipment sales in nations like India. Sales, meanwhile, dropped by 18% in more mature countries like North America. By the end of the year, the corporation intends to reduce 8,500 positions internationally to save nine billion crowns ($800 million). Ericsson reported net sales of $6 billion in Q1, up 14% YoY from $5.34 billion, while restructuring expenditures caused net income to decline by 46% to $155 million.