Ericsson and Cisco are extending their strategic partnership to include a new WiFi solution offering, named Evolved WiFi Networks (EWN).
EWN combines Ericsson’s 3GPP access, core networks and applications with Cisco’s WiFi portfolio, to provide reliable WiFi with the highest performance to Ericsson’s mobile, cable and other industries customers.
The offering will include pre-integrated and verified solutions and will offer a range of benefits:
* Indoor Small Cells: Combining indoor Ericsson access networks with Cisco WLAN enables deployment in venues of both WiFi and cellular connectivity.
* Operator WiFi: Allowing operators who have outdoor Ericsson access networks to use Cisco WLAN to offer access to their subscribers.
* Traffic Steering: Integrating Cisco WLAN with either Ericsson macro or indoor access networks via Ericsson’s unique Real Time Traffic Steering feature enables operators to steer users between mobile and Wi-Fi access networks, ensuring the best end-user experience.
* Core Network Integration: Integrating Cisco WLAN into Ericsson packet core using trusted configurations will allow operators to offer all their core network services over WiFi for multimode devices. Ericsson’s highly successful WiFi Calling capabilities already deliver seamless voice mobility over Cisco WLAN.
Rima Qureshi, head of region: North America with responsibility for the strategic partnership with Cisco at Ericsson, says: “Our strategic partnership brings together the capabilities of two leading players in networking, mobility and cloud, creating the best end-to-end solutions and opportunities for our customers. By adding WiFi solutions into the partnership, we will enable our customers to offer best-in-class Wi-Fi in their networks, complemented by our leading 3GPP portfolio and services organisation.”
Yvette Kanouff, senior vice-president and GM of the service provider business unit at Cisco, says: “With WiFi traffic predicted to grow to 50% of the total IP traffic by 2020, a top priority for service providers is to deliver the best possible connected experiences to their customers. Through our extended strategic partnership with Ericsson, we are committed to providing WiFi solutions of the highest quality performance and reliability.”
The design and deployment of solutions based on the new offering will be handled by Ericsson’s services organization, with full product support from Cisco. Ericsson’s capability to offer worldwide services will allow operators to adopt new business models and expand into new markets. EWN can be offered as a fully managed service with the global reach of more than 180 countries. This enables faster rollout times and ease of adaption of the solution.
