Ericsson and Cisco are combining their Wi-Fi portfolios in a bid to offer “high performance” Wi-Fi to enterprise customers.
The new Evolved Wi-Fi Networks (EWN) products will bring together Ericsson’s access, core networks and applications with Cisco’s Wi-Fi portfolio. It builds upon the strategic partnership both companies signed in late 2015.
Among the products offered under the EWN umbrella are indoor small cells, which will unite Ericsson’s access networks with Cisco’s WLAN, operator Wi-Fi, which will allow telcos using Ericsson outdoor access network to boost their service through Cisco’s WLAN, and traffic steering, which will shift customers between Wi-Fi and cellular networks in order to ensuring the highest level of user experience.
Under the terms of the partnership, Ericsson’s services organisation will design and deploy the EWN solutions, with Cisco offering product support. In a statement, Ericsson said EWN can be offered as a fully managed service to more than 180 countries.
Rima Qureshi, Head of Region North America with responsibility for the strategic partnership with Cisco, Ericsson, said: “Our strategic partnership brings together the capabilities of two leading players in networking, mobility and cloud, creating the best end-to-end solutions and opportunities for our customers.
“By adding Wi-Fi solutions into the partnership, we will enable our customers to offer best-in-class Wi-Fi in their networks, complemented by our leading 3GPP portfolio and services organization.”
Yvette Kanouff, SVP & GM of the Service Provider Business Unit, Cisco, said: “With Wi-Fi traffic predicted to grow to 50 percent of the total IP traffic by 2020, a top priority for service providers is to deliver the best possible connected experiences to their customers.”