Ericsson-LG's new 5G equipment helps reduce carbon

Ericsson-LG CEO Hannes Ekström speaks during a press conference in Seoul on Thursday. [ERICSSON-LG]

Achieving net zero remains a challenge for the communication service industry as data traffic continues to grow.

Ericsson-LG, a network equipment provider in Korea, says its new 5G equipment can help reduce carbon emissions significantly.

“For every generation of technology we have deployed, the energy consumption need has increased,” said Hannes Ekström, CEO of Ericsson-LG, at a press conference on Thursday.

“From 2G to 3G and from 3G to 4G, more energy has always been used by the networks. And we want to break that trend by making 5G more energy-efficient.”

Ericsson-LG introduced its new Air 6476 network equipment that is capable of multiple-bandwidth coverage. The company explained that the device can save a significant amount of energy in comparison to using two or three devices with single bandwidth coverage.

“Aside from the energy consumed by the device, if you consider the energy consumed in the manufacturing and delivering process as well as the components, the application of this kind of modernized technology in the manufacturing of network equipment is essential to reduce carbon emission,” said Kwon Kyung-in, chief technology officer at Ericsson-LG.

Implementing a 5G standalone (SA) network is essential in order to enjoy the more high-tech gadgets flowing in such as the recent Apple Vision Pro, according to the company.

In Korea, KT is the only telecom company that offers the 5G SA network. SKT and LG U+ rely on a 5G network supported by the 4G LTE network, known as 5G NSA (not standalone).

Standalone 5G relies solely on 5G frequencies, lowering latency and speeding up data transmission, which is critical when using high-tech gadgets like XR headsets.

“Korea still needs to go a step further to catch up with the rest of the world [in terms of 5G SA],” said Ekström.

“We plan to support Korea in this area.”

Ericsson-LG is a joint venture between Swedish equipment maker Ericsson and Korea’s LG Electronics, with the Swedish company holding a 75 percent stake.

BY JIN EUN-SOO [jin.eunsoo@joongang.co.kr]