How Ericsson is Driving 5G 'Made in the USA'

Ericsson hosted an exclusive event at the Ericsson USA 5G Smart Factory in Lewisville, Texas. The company provided a tour of the facility and hosted programming to reveal the inner workings of the 5G Smart Factory. Attendees included key customers, U.S. Government officials, media and industry analysts. Additionally, Ericsson’s leadership discussed exciting new developments in connectivity as demand for innovation continues to accelerate rapidly to meet the critical need for national 5G infrastructure.

As part of the event, the company announced an additional investment of USD 50 million, following the initial USD 100 million investment announced in 2020, to its award-winning USA 5G Smart Factory. This additional investment will further accelerate local production to address the demand for 5G infrastructure Made in the U.S.A., compliant with the Build America Buy America Act (BABAA).

“This 5G Smart Factory ensures we are working closely to secure fast and agile deliveries to meet US customer requirements, and it has been exciting to see the growth and innovation of our state-of-the-art facility in just a few short years,” said Yossi Cohen, President and Head of Ericsson North America. “With this expansion, we can accelerate the production of Ericsson’s advanced Massive MIMO radios and our latest RAN Compute platform, all proudly made in the USA, addressing the evolving demands of our US customers and reinforcing our commitment to technological leadership.”

The highly automated Ericsson USA 5G Smart Factory is currently at the forefront of building the next generation of 5G infrastructure in the United States. The expanded 300,000-square-foot highly automated smart factory employs more than 500 people. This expansion will allow Ericsson to deliver existing and new radios and basebands (RAN Compute) for major US customers from the US factory, including Open RAN-ready products.

Ericsson’s USA 5G Smart Factory opened in 2020 to support the early waves of 5G deployments and has been shipping 5G network products, including 5G and Massive MIMO radios, to all tier-one communications service providers in the US. This expansion further cements Ericsson’s strategy to meet demand for the latest and most advanced 5G from its largest US customers with 5G Made in the U.S.A.

“President Biden is laser focused on bringing fast, affordable, and secure connectivity to every part of our nation so that all Americans can share in the benefits of the digital age. The Biden-Harris Administration is supporting unprecedented investments in communications infrastructure, including 5G, right here at home — creating good jobs, more secure networks, and continued U.S. leadership in wireless technology. Today’s announcement is welcome news that will help support ongoing work to connect more Americans,” said, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy’s Asad Ramzanali.

“Ericsson is proving once again that Texas is the best place in the country to do business. This new smart factory is bringing not only cutting-edge technological production to our state, but the high paying skilled jobs that go along with it. This is a huge win for our state, and for the people of Lewisville and the whole Dallas-Fort Worth region,” said, United States Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX).

"The Ericsson 5G Smart Factory is providing access to innovative technologies, creating jobs, and bolstering our manufacturing sector right here in North Texas. In Congress, I will keep working to build on the success of this factory and continue to empower our nation’s manufacturing sector," commented, United States Representative Marc Veasey (D-TX).

This announcement is the latest step in the company’s 120-year commitment and investments in the US. Ericsson has made significant investments in the US in recent years, including:

Acquired market-leader Cradlepoint to help capture market share in the rapidly expanding 5G enterprise space
Opened the Global Utilities Innovation Center in Plano, Texas, as a secure experience center and testing lab to enable utilities and manufacturers to explore solutions to challenges
Acquired Vonage to adopt global network Application Program Interfaces, driving the next wave of digitalization and transforming the way 5G capabilities are exposed, consumed, and paid for
Opened the 5G ASIC Design Center in Austin, Texas, to help accelerate 5G product development
Created the Global Artificial Intelligence Accelerator innovation hubs in Santa Clara, Calif., to speed up adoption of advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning
Launched D-15 in Santa Clara, California, a co-creation center in Silicon Valley for industrial partners and service providers to drive the next industrial revolution, powered by 5G and AI
Established a new radio network software R&D center in Austin, Texas