By Emeka Aginam

Ericsson, Cisco  have extended  strategic partnership to include a new Wi-Fi solution offering, called  Evolved Wi-Fi Networks, EWN.

The solution combines Ericsson’s 3GPP access, core networks and applications with Cisco’s Wi-Fi portfolio, to provide reliable Wi-Fi with the highest performance to Ericsson’s mobile, cable and other industries customers.

The design and deployment of solutions based on the new offering, the promoters said that  will be handled by Ericsson’s services organization, with full product support from Cisco.

Ericsson’s capability to offer worldwide services will allow operators to adopt new business models and expand into new markets.

EWN can be offered as a fully managed service with the global reach of more than 180 countries. This enables faster rollout times and ease of adaption of the solution.

Speaking on the new partnership,  Rima Qureshi, Head of Region North America with responsibility for the strategic partnership with Cisco, Ericsson, said that,  “Our strategic partnership brings together the capabilities of two leading players in networking, mobility and cloud, creating the best end-to-end solutions and opportunities for our customers. By adding Wi-Fi solutions into the partnership, we will enable our customers to offer best-in-class Wi-Fi in their networks, complemented by our leading 3GPP portfolio and services organization.”

Also speaking, Yvette Kanouff, SVP & GM of the Service Provider Business Unit, Cisco,  said that,  “With Wi-Fi traffic predicted to grow to 50 percent of the total IP traffic by 2020, a top priority for service providers is to deliver the best possible connected experiences to their customers. Through our extended strategic partnership with Ericsson, we are committed to providing Wi-Fi solutions of the highest quality performance and reliability.”

The offering  which will include pre-integrated and verified solutions will offer a range of benefits including:

*Indoor Small Cells: Combining indoor Ericsson access networks with Cisco® WLAN enables deployment in venues of both Wi-Fi and cellular connectivity.