Ericsson has introduced private 5G products right after Mobile World Congress
These include new Elements entry-level products
As well as "air-gapped" mission-critical products that don't require a connection to the cloud
Post-Mobile World Congress 2026, Ericsson is diving back into the private 5G world and talking about its private 5G product plans for 2026. Unlike its major rival Nokia, Ericsson is not narrowing its focus on private 5G, but instead expanding its offerings in the entry-level range and up through its more expensive mission-critical offerings, which often to serve multi-million dollar contracts.
Ericsson, like some other players in the field, is betting that a more maximalist approach to private networking. The vendor is trying to offer the most options to the most customers, which could serve it better in the long run by grabbing market share in the niche of the telco market.
At its Unwired 2026 event this week, the company talked up its expanded radio portfolio and more for the private 5G market.
Specifically, the company added 33 new radios to its EP5G portfolio in 2025, according to Ericsson's principal product manager in its enterprise wireless solutions unit, Vijay Devarapalli. “Our radio portfolio has expanded,” he said.
Similarly, private RANs have generally expanded to allow customers to support different spectrum bands in different regions of the world.
Entry-level private 5G
Ericsson's private 5G product expansion will continue in 2026, he said. “We’re introducing a couple of new basebands, and we’re calling it EP5G Elements,” Devarapalli said, adding that they will cover areas like a small warehouse or a square kilometer yard.
The vendor will also increase the customer-facing management capabilities of these mini private 5G networks. “In the past, EP5G was like a black box for you...but now, we’ll actually be giving you a lot more tools for you to be able to manage the network,” he said.
The Elements products will be aimed at the logistics, transportation and warehouse market, he added.
Mission-critical private 5G
At the other end of the scale, Ericsson will be expanding its mission-critical offerings for 2026. Mission-critical refers to private networking gear that serves public safety, utilities, railways, defense and disaster response — any private network built by an organization for essential operations.
Nokia said toward the end of last year that it would focus its private networking efforts on the mission-critical area, while continuing to sell its private networking RAN and core equipment through operators and system integrator partners. Ericsson, however, doesn’t intend to cede this sector to Nokia.
Ericsson intends to increase the human safety features of its mission-critical gear. Ensuring that the EP5G gear provides more than one point of failure for these crucial tasks.
Devarapalli referenced a data center that caught fire due to a bush fire in Australia and had to be evacuated. “Guess what, the system was up and running because there was another data center on site, which had another EP5G core that continued providing operations,” he said.
Later this year, Ericsson will release an “air-gapped” private 5G network that operates independently of the cloud. This will be “a full EP5G deployment that doesn’t depend on the cloud in any way that can serve...these mission-critical industrial,” explained product lead Marcus Burton.
So, the glima fight will continue over private 5G between the Nordic telco titans in 2026. Ericsson is trying to cover all the essential aspects of private networking, while Nokia attempts to take the expensive, high ground.