Ericsson opened federal 5G unit to sell USA-made tech to government agencies

Yossi Cohen, president and head of Ericsson in North America, expressed enthusiasm about expanding Ericsson's projects with the U.S. government

Ericsson, a Swedish vendor, has launched a new federal division in the United States aimed at facilitating "5G-driven digital transformation" across various agencies within the U.S. federal government. This initiative mirrors a similar action taken by Finnish competitor Nokia in January, which established a dedicated business unit in the U.S. focused on delivering private cellular, edge computing, and other crucial connected solutions to the U.S. government. Ericsson's newly formed unit is named Ericsson Federal Technologies Group (EFTG), while Nokia's counterpart is called Nokia Federal Solutions. Notably, Ericsson's press release did not explicitly mention private 5G but instead referred to providing "solutions for the complex communications challenges."

Heading the new business is Christopher Ling, previously associated with consulting engineering services firm Booz Allen Hamilton, where he served as an executive vice president and group lead of its national security business in the U.S. Ling brings nearly three decades of experience with Booz Allen Hamilton to his new role. Ericsson stated that the newly established business will focus on designing "robust, secure, and highly integrated networking solutions" to support use cases imposing significant demands on 5G networks. Ericsson highlighted its existing partnerships with entities like the National Science Foundation's Advanced Wireless Research Facility and the CTIA Cybersecurity Lab.