Ericsson Netze boss Jejdling: “5G ensures that productivity is twice as high”

Mr. Jejdling, the mobile communication fair MWC has just come to an end. What are you taking with you from Barcelona?

The big question for everyone is how to monetize 5G networks.

So it’s about how to make money with it?

Is correct. It’s critical infrastructure. It’s now about how customers use them. Indeed, in the top 20 markets where we rolled out 5G, there are many more mobile broadband applications where people are taking advantage of the increased speed and security on their smartphones.

What does 5G bring you?

5G itself is a cost-effective technology. It offers much more capacity compared to 4G sites by a factor of ten. You have more spectrum, and that brings energy savings of more than 30 percent overall. This is important in view of the high energy prices in Europe. It would not be sustainable to continue with 4G growth. With 5G, fiber can be replaced by cellular connections. Fixed Wireless Access, FWA for short, is currently growing strongly on the US market, there is great dynamic here, unlike in Europe. In India, households are connected to the Internet via mobile communications. 5G therefore offers use cases that go beyond pure mobility. Cellular networks are a critical infrastructure. Like the freeways of the past, people are now building the digital freeways.

Who will benefit the most from 5G?

5G is not really complex, but it offers numerous possibilities. 5G is an innovation platform. There are many applications, for example in production. We use 5G ourselves at our manufacturing facility in Dallas, Texas, for example. We have a green production factory there. 5G ensures that productivity is twice as high as usual. You are much more flexible, there are no cable connections, there are robot vehicles that can pick up and transport goods very precisely. This is the next generation in terms of production. In Germany, for example, we support Audi and Mercedes with the technology, and there are further industrial tests with major partners in the country.

How far has 6G progressed?

To be honest, my thoughts revolve around 5G. We must make it a success. Of course, there’s another number in the industry, and that’s 6G. But this technology is in the stage of research and technological collaboration, as is usual with global technologies. That takes time.

But you must have an idea of ​​what 6G looks like and what it can do.

It will offer a more immersive internet, the internet of senses as we call it.

So the basis for the much-discussed metaverse?

5G already offers that.

When will 6G be of interest to you, if not now?

Of course we are already working on it. But the absolute majority of the 32,000 employees in our network division are thinking about 5G and its applications.

You have worked for Ericsson for 17 years. Now 8,500 jobs are to be cut. Is this one of the most difficult phases in the company’s history?

Job cuts are always difficult. The 8,500 jobs are part of previously announced savings of 9 billion crowns. The majority of this is attributable to the area of ​​product sales. It’s about automating processes more. It’s not just about laying off staff, it’s also about things like post-Covid real estate. A company needs to keep an eye on many things at all times. Of course it’s difficult when you have to lay people off, but we have to remain an efficient company. And we must not scale back our R&D efforts.

How important is R&D to you?