Ericsson plans to deliver all components necessary for 5G networks next year, as it looks to gain headway over rival vendors in developing the technology.

According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), the Swedish vendor has struck partnerships with 26 operators willing to deploy the technology, which includes capabilities to power self-driving cars and other connection driven projects.

The move will come three years ahead of an industry wide deadline for frequencies and standards to be set for new 5G equipment. Notably, the industry has also not yet defined exactly what 5G will be.

Standards, meanwhile, will officially be ratified by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) after it evaluates feedback from operators, with industry body 3GPP set to play a key role in the development, as it did with 4G.

Tackling the competition
Ericsson is however in the midst of sparring with rivals, including Nokia and Huawei, in determining equipment and technology for the next-generation mobile standard, and is seemingly looking to gain an early advantage.

The company is also banking big on 5G, given its recent troubles as demand for 4G networks slows, and there are billions of dollars in future intellectual property and patent revenue up for grabs with 5G, reported WSJ.

Notably, the vendor is without a CEO after Hans Vestberg stepped down last month.

The WSJ report also cited industry experts, which claimed that western vendors have less of an influence in shaping standards for 5G, amid consolidation in the market. In contrast, Chinese players such as Huawei have invested heavily in research and development and are playing a more active role in 5G development.

“Europe’s total impact is in decline,” Toon Norp, chairman of one of 3GPP’s working groups, reportedly said. “The influence of the Chinese vendors has grown enormously.”

Ericsson will test its 5G prototypes with customers in a bid to gain influence in setting standards, and the company is reportedly confident that it will be able to bring its products in line with final standards through software upgrades.

World’s first 5G NR Radio 
In its official announcement this morning, Ericsson said it was commercialising “the world’s first 5G NR radio for massive MIMO”, with the first deployments coming in 2017.

The company said in a statement the new radio system addresses key requirements of 5G in today’s networks, and together with 5G plug ins it announced in June, as well as the commercially available radio system baseband, “Ericsson is first to deliver all components of a 5G access network”.

“We are introducing the new hardware that 5G Plug-Ins, announced in June, will run on, so that the first operators can start to deploy 5G infrastructure,” claimed Arun Bansal, head of business unit network products at Ericsson. “And, we are also launching innovations that improve both the performance and efficiency of today’s networks using concepts that will evolve into 5G.”