Ericsson is a Swedish telecommunications company that builds the infrastructure mobile networks run on. When you make a phone call, stream a video, or send a text over a cellular connection, there’s a good chance the signal passes through Ericsson equipment. The company sells hardware, software, and services to mobile carriers around the world, and more recently has expanded into cloud communications for businesses through its Vonage platform.
Building Mobile Networks
Ericsson’s core business is supplying the physical and software systems that mobile network operators need to deliver 4G and 5G service. This falls under what the company calls its Networks segment, and it’s the largest part of the business.
The key piece of technology here is the Radio Access Network, or RAN. This is the system of radios, antennas, and processing units installed on cell towers and rooftops that connect your phone to the broader network. Ericsson manufactures and sells a wide range of RAN equipment, including Massive MIMO radios (advanced multi-antenna systems that handle more data by sending and receiving signals on dozens of paths simultaneously), remote radio units for traditional cell sites, and antenna systems covering frequencies from 600 MHz up to 6 GHz.
For indoor coverage, Ericsson offers products like the Radio Dot System, which provides 5G connectivity inside office buildings, stadiums, and other large venues. It also sells millimeter wave indoor units for ultra-fast short-range connections.
Beyond the hardware, Ericsson sells software subscriptions that run on top of its radio systems. These include tools that boost upload speeds, detect and reduce signal interference, optimize cell coverage patterns, and combine spectrum bands to improve throughput. The company increasingly uses AI to automate network operations, pushing continuous software updates that improve performance and reduce energy consumption for carriers.
Cloud Software and Services
Ericsson’s second major segment is Cloud Software and Services. This side of the business covers the software platforms carriers use to manage their networks, handle billing, orchestrate cloud infrastructure, and roll out new digital services to their own customers. It also includes consulting and managed services, where Ericsson’s engineers help operators design, deploy, and run their networks.
For carriers transitioning from older 4G core networks to cloud-native 5G cores, Ericsson provides the software stack that routes data, manages subscriber connections, and enables features like network slicing, which lets an operator carve out a dedicated portion of its network for a specific use case (a factory’s robotics system, for example, or a live broadcast).
Vonage and Enterprise Communications
Ericsson acquired Vonage in 2022, adding a cloud communications platform aimed at businesses and software developers. Vonage provides APIs (pre-built code tools) that let companies embed voice calls, video, SMS, and messaging into their own apps and workflows without building those capabilities from scratch.
A retailer might use Vonage’s APIs to send order confirmation texts. A healthcare company might embed video calling into a patient portal. Vonage also offers a unified communications platform for businesses that replaces traditional phone systems with cloud-based calling, messaging, and video conferencing.
For Ericsson, Vonage represents a bridge between telecom infrastructure and the software world. The company has been experimenting with making network-level capabilities, like device location tracking and SIM swap detection, available to developers through Vonage’s API platform. The idea is that a developer building a fraud-prevention tool could call on the carrier’s network data (with permission) to verify that a user’s SIM card hasn’t been recently swapped, all through a simple API call rather than a direct relationship with the carrier. This gives mobile operators a new way to generate revenue from their 5G investments.
Who Ericsson’s Customers Are
Ericsson’s primary customers are mobile network operators: the carriers you pay for cellular service. The company works with operators in more than 180 countries. When a carrier decides to upgrade from 4G to 5G, or expand coverage in rural areas, or densify its network in a city, Ericsson competes for those contracts against a small number of rivals, most notably Nokia and Huawei.
Through Vonage, Ericsson also sells directly to businesses of all sizes, from startups integrating SMS verification into an app to large enterprises replacing legacy phone systems.
How Ericsson Makes Money
Revenue comes from three main streams. Equipment sales generate income when a carrier purchases radios, antennas, and processing hardware. Software licensing and subscriptions produce recurring revenue as carriers pay for features, upgrades, and AI-driven automation tools. Services revenue comes from managed network operations, consulting, system integration, and Vonage’s communication platform fees.
The business is cyclical. When carriers invest heavily in new network generations (the transition from 4G to 5G being the current cycle), Ericsson’s equipment sales surge. Between investment cycles, software and services provide more stable income. Vonage’s API and communications platform adds a layer of enterprise revenue that’s less tied to carrier capital spending cycles.