Ericsson and unveils national 5G, 6G, AI test centre in Sweden

Following Finland’s University of Oulu and the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stokholm launch of a joint 6G resilience programme, fellow Nordic institution Ericsson – in partnership with operator Telia and other partners – has given 6G development a further boost with a national connectivity and next-generation test centre in Sweden.

Backed by an initial investment of more than SEK 300m, the national test centre Digital Arena Sweden has the fundamental aim of strengthening Swedish industry by providing early access to advanced digital solutions in 5G, 6G and artificial intelligence (AI). Digital Arena Sweden aims to empower enterprises by harnessing connectivity and AI to innovate safely and securely, accelerating the path from concept to commercial deployment.

The 6G environment builds on the Telia-Ericsson innovation programme NorthStar, which since 2023 has been providing access to advances in 5G capabilities. In addition to Ericsson and Telia, the centre is supported by Sweden’s innovation agency Vinnova through the Avancerad Digitalisering innovation programme, the collaboration brings together RISE Research Institutes of Sweden (and its subsidiary AstaZero), Future by Lund and others.

Under the initiative, Ericsson will be responsible for establishing and progressing a “unique” pre-commercial 6G test environment in collaboration with Lund University and KTH Royal Institute of Technology.

The test centre will look to facilitate industries, from mining and transport to defence and medtech, in exploring the potential of 6G. The insights will also feed into the global 6G standardisation process. It will attempt to establish a shared digital portal and common framework for testing, making advanced technology more accessible to the entire Swedish innovation ecosystem.

Outlining what he believes the centre could achieve, Ericsson CTO Erik Ekudden noted that by creating one of the world’s first test environments for the combination of 5G, 6G and AI, several years before the technology becomes commercial, the centre would ensure that Swedish industry and research remained at the forefront.

“In Sweden, we have extensive experience in driving technological leadership,” he said. “For Ericsson, this is an opportunity to define, together with our partners, how a connected society will function, where AI agents, physical AI (robotics), and autonomous systems can be developed and validated to meet the future.”

Telia Sweden CEO Anders Olsson added: “Through the new test centre, we are opening up for more companies to take part in the latest 5G technology and AI, where we can meet high demands for security and sovereignty. This is a prerequisite for connecting and digitising the most critical parts of operations and products, but also where the value in terms of efficiency, customer value and societal benefit is greatest. This is how we can step up the work of both strengthening Sweden’s digital security and competitiveness.”

Just before announcing the development centre, Ericsson revealed that its Private 5G solution is available through Verizon Business private wireless deployments beyond the US, enabling multinational enterprises to extend private 5G connectivity across their global operations.

The rationale for the partnership is that as organisations increasingly rely on AI, automation and data-driven operations, demand is growing for secure, reliable and low-latency connectivity across international sites. Through this expanded collaboration, Ericsson asserted that Verizon Business customers can now deploy Private 5G across global campuses, supporting advanced use cases such as industrial automation, AI-powered analytics, autonomous robotics and digital twins.