Consumer, enterprise and industry customers of French communications service provider (CSP), Bouygues Telecom, are to benefit from end-to-end Ericsson 5G Standalone (5G SA) connectivity as a result of Ericsson supplying a 5G SA core network to the company. Bouygues Telecom customers are already benefiting from Ericsson 5G RAN connectivity.

The strategic partnership between the companies will see the deployment of the cloud-native Ericsson Dual Mode 5G Core.

When fully operational, the end-to-end (spanning both Bouygues Telecom’s core and RAN networks) 5G SA network will facilitate use cases across Bouygues Telecom’s entire customer base: from individual consumer subscribers to enterprise and industry customers, and other use cases where secure high-end public, hybrid or dedicated 5G networks are needed.

Bouygues Telecom’s 5G Standalone connectivity will also use network slicing – a process whereby the amount of network connectivity needed for a task will be secured via a guaranteed ‘slice’ of the network – to help facilitate the broad range of expected use cases as the digitalization of France, and the move to the fourth industrial revolution (4IE), accelerates.

Standalone 5G will also be central to use cases involving artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR) and automation. Sectors likely to benefit from the Ericsson-Bouygues Telecom Strategic Partnership include industry, logistics, smart transport, events and healthcare.

Services resulting from the end-to-end 5G network strategic partnership are expected to be available from early 2023.

Benoît Torloting, CEO, Bouygues Telecom, says: “This agreement with Ericsson, a long-standing partner, heralds the implementation of a key step for Bouygues Telecom in the deployment of 5G. This 5G Standalone core network will enable us to offer our consumer and enterprise customers the best of technology from 2023 on. Bouygues Telecom is proud to support them in their digital transition with the quality and security of its network."

Franck Bouétard, Head of Ericsson France, says: “This agreement with Bouygues Telecom reaches a new milestone to accelerate the digital transformation in France and take full advantage of 5G technology for both consumers and enterprises with the 5G Standalone mode.”

He adds: “Ericsson's solutions for dedicated private network, hybrid mobile network with a local packet gateway and mobile virtual network with slicing, will enable significant benefits with dedicated quality of service and lower latency, for critical and secure business applications.”