The company said its deep engagement with industry partners is helping move 6G development from research into practical, deployable networks, with its technology serving as a convergence point for innovation across the telecommunications sector.
Ericsson has positioned itself as a key driver of the emerging 6G ecosystem, working to build what it describes as an AI-native and globally scalable foundation for next-generation mobile networks. The company said its deep engagement with industry partners is helping move 6G development from research into practical, deployable networks, with its technology serving as a convergence point for innovation across the telecommunications sector.
According to Ericsson, progress in the 6G ecosystem will depend heavily on interoperable, end-to-end technologies. The transition is expected to begin with the continued rollout of 5G Standalone and 5G Advanced networks before evolving into what the company describes as an “intelligent fabric” powered by artificial intelligence across all network layers. This includes embedding intelligence directly into radio systems through Ericsson Silicon, as well as integrating AI capabilities across RAN compute, software platforms, transport systems, OSS/BSS, network management and the core network. Together, these AI-driven capabilities are expected to enable autonomous networks, a key step toward the eventual deployment of 6G.
Ericsson said the integration of intelligence across network layers will support the performance and efficiency required for emerging technologies such as generative AI, agentic AI and physical AI applications. The company highlighted that this evolution is already visible through its ecosystem initiatives and demonstrations showcased during Mobile World Congress 2026.
As part of these initiatives, Ericsson is collaborating with several technology partners to accelerate the development of AI-native 6G infrastructure. The company is working with Intel to advance AI-driven radio access networks and packet core solutions spanning compute, connectivity and cloud platforms. It is also contributing architectural guidance to the Linux Foundation’s OCUDU initiative, aimed at developing a portable, open-source CU/DU software stack to support wireless innovation. Additionally, Ericsson is partnering with NVIDIA to develop AI-native open platforms that embed intelligence across the RAN, edge and core networks, strengthening security and trust for emerging physical AI applications.
The company has also joined a strategic industry coalition announced at MWC with Qualcomm to develop a milestone-driven roadmap toward commercial 6G systems expected to begin around 2029.
“We are already on the journey toward an intelligent fabric, and it is happening right now. With clear proof points across the entire network, we are proving that a fully AI-powered network is not a distant capability five years out. By bringing intelligence into every domain today, we are giving the industry the foundation it needs to scale the next generation of AI.”
– Erik Ekudden, Senior Vice President, Chief Technology Officer, Ericsson
Ericsson also highlighted its role as a key hub for the 6G device ecosystem, emphasizing the importance of interoperability between devices and networks as the industry targets commercial 6G deployment around 2030. At MWC 2026, the company provided pre-standard systems that device manufacturers can use to validate emerging 6G technologies.
Several demonstrations were conducted with industry partners. Ericsson and Qualcomm Technologies validated foundational 6G physical-layer capabilities through laboratory prototypes, including exploration of cmWave spectrum around 6–8 GHz to demonstrate enhanced uplink performance. Ericsson also worked with MediaTek to integrate a 6G testbed radio with a MediaTek user equipment prototype, successfully completing a data call that validated new features designed to reduce latency and support the high data demands of AI-enhanced extended reality applications.
In another demonstration, Ericsson collaborated with Apple to showcase live Multi-RAT Spectrum Sharing between 5G and a simulated 6G system. The demonstration illustrated how
operators could transition to 6G more smoothly by allowing both technologies to share spectrum resources efficiently.
Ericsson said these collaborations are aimed at preparing communications service providers for the next phase of mobile connectivity. With the first implementable specifications from 3GPP expected around 2029, the company said its ongoing work with partners is helping create the interoperability and technical foundations needed for confident 6G deployment. The company added that the groundwork for this future network architecture is already being established through the rollout of 5G Standalone, 5G Advanced and network APIs, which will form the base of the 6G intelligent fabric.
Source : www.techafricanews.com
