The collaboration agreement, which has an international scope, aims to drive solutions that enable industries to transform operations, increase safety and security, and deliver innovative products and services.

Emerging next-generation use and business cases will demand more reliable, higher performance wireless solutions from 4G and 5G mobile networks. The collaboration will see Ericsson and Leonardo sharing R&D capabilities and competences spanning cyber security, 5G networks and service evolution.

The partnership will also address cyber security while threats are becoming more complex in particular for strategic critical infrastructures.

In certain specific projects and opportunities, the collaboration will also be open to communications service providers and other ecosystem partners.

Enrico Savio, Chief Strategy & Market Intelligence Officer, Leonardo, says: ”The agreement brings together market leaders in 5G technology and cyber security to accelerate the delivery of more effective, secure and reliable communications. ”

He adds: ”This will benefit communities, public and private organizations, making them feel safer and more secure, which is one of the objectives of our company’s strategic plan: Be Tomorrow – Leonardo 2030. By bringing together our respective expertise, Ericsson and Leonardo will create the strategic conditions for both companies to grow in the mission-critical sector and deliver innovation that will change the way we do business.”

Emanuele Iannetti, Head of South East Mediterranean, Ericsson, says: “5G unlocks the industry digitalization and mission critical public services evolution We’re joining forces with Leonardo to gain a complementary view of market demands and business drivers, taking digitalization to the next level. Through the collective experience we get through this partnership, we will be able to increase the impact of what we do for our customers.”

The Ericsson and Leonardo cooperation will also enable integration and interoperability with existing narrowband digital communications. This will be done by using LTE and 5G technologies to design and deliver solutions that will provide first responders such as firefighters, emergency medical service personnel and policemen with fast and secure communications to save lives.

Alongside existing narrowband infrastructures, such solutions can support more advanced use cases and mission-critical services such as real-time video, massive use of sensors and augmented reality.

Based on the agreement, these jointly developed solutions can be integrated into Leonardo Command & Control propositions to bring critical mobile broadband benefits to daily operations for public safety users.