Verizon is the first company to receive Ericsson’s US manufactured, 5G commercial basestation.

5G promises to be one of the most transformative networking upgrades in history. The fastest variety of 5G, mmWave, delivers speeds measured in gigabits rather than megabits. In addition, 5G latency is usually in the single digits. As a result, 5G holds potential to be a viable replacement for traditional types of internet access, such as DSL, cable or fiber.

Despite the benefits of mmWave 5G, it has notoriously short range and even worse building penetration. In order to provide coverage, carriers must place basestations every couple of hundred meters, making basestations a high-demand component for 5G rollouts.

Ericsson has been working to meet demand, including ramping up a smart factory in Texas to manufacture the equipment.

“Ericsson’s smart factory is a cornerstone of our collaboration as we work together to bring 5G to our consumer, enterprise and public safety customers,” said Kyle Malady, Chief Technology Officer of Verizon. “Together these types of innovation will accelerate our 5G deployments, as we expand our 5G leadership in technology and continue to rapidly build the ecosystem with our partners.”

“As the most advanced platform for innovation, 5G will enable a transformation across enterprises – as we’re now experiencing in our own smart factories,” said Fredrik Jejdling, Ericsson Executive Vice President and Head of Networks. “Automation and remote operations have become more important, and we’re working with our customers to make them available for the benefit of industries. From producing the first 5G base stations at our 5G USA Smart Factory earlier this year, we’ve made our first commercial delivery to Verizon. That’s just the beginning.”

The US has been working to bring more high-tech manufacturing in-country in an effort to better insulate the tech industry from the kind of setbacks it suffered as a result of the pandemic. Ericsson’s announcement is another significant step in that direction.