Horizontal by Design: Ericsson’s Strategy for Smarter RAN Automation

I’ve been very intrigued by how Ericsson is leveraging Open RAN standards and specifications for its work on network automation. At Mobile World Congress 2025 I had the chance to speak with a couple of their experts about their Service Management & Orchestration (SMO) offering: the Ericsson Intelligent Automation Platform (EIAP). 

The platform combines network management, resource orchestration, and a non-real-time RIC to help service providers streamline operations and reduce costs. By offering a unified approach to automation, Ericsson’s SMO allows operators to manage everything from day-to-day network performance to long-term planning and optimisation.

A central part of their strategy is fostering a strong developer and partner ecosystem. The platform’s rApp Directory, one of the key Open RAN announcements from last year, now has over 1,500 developers engaged and supports a wide range of automation use cases across the full network lifecycle. 

The strategy also extends to hardware, with ongoing efforts to streamline the integration process for radio units from different vendors, by leveraging Open RAN’s standardised interfaces. 

And as demand grows for AI and intent-based networking, EIAP is set to play an increasingly important role in shaping Ericsson’s future strategy and product offerings.