- Ericsson joins OCUDU Ecosystem Foundation as a founding premier member under the Linux Foundation to advance open-source CU/DU and U.S. wireless innovation
- Ericsson will contribute architectural guidance, ensure technology neutrality, and support open, interoperable RAN as the industry advances 5G and moves toward AI-native 6G
- Public-private collaboration will drive research, experimentation, and ecosystem development aligned with the U.S. national directive for "Winning the 6G Race"
STOCKHOLM, March 1, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Ericsson today announced it has joined the OCUDU Ecosystem Foundation as a founding premier member, underscoring its commitment to open innovation in radio access network (RAN) software. Ericsson will hold a seat on the Foundation's Board of Directors.
OCUDU, an open-source initiative under the Linux Foundation, aims to accelerate U.S. leadership in wireless innovation through a portable, open-source CU/DU software stack supporting next-generation RAN capabilities.
Ericsson will help shape OCUDU's direction to enable research, experimentation, and ecosystem development alongside operators, government agencies, academic institutions, and technology partners. Ericsson's participation will focus on contributing architectural guidance, ensuring technology neutrality, and advancing research-driven use cases, building on its experience in world-leading solutions deployed globally across governmental, enterprise, and consumer networks. The company remains dedicated to delivering secure, trusted, and high-performance networks and will leverage its industry-leading expertise to advance an open and interoperable ecosystem defining the progression of 5G and the emergence of 6G toward a 6G/AI intelligent fabric.
OCUDU Ecosystem Foundation will help facilitate dual use of commercial 5G technologies in specific defense applications, meeting the requirements of the U.S. Department of War. Ericsson is dedicated to supporting the U.S. government's efforts to modernize its infrastructure by transitioning from legacy systems to secure, open, and programmable network architectures. This will ensure technology neutrality, strengthen national security standards, and foster a resilient telecommunications ecosystem where AI-driven capabilities can be deployed at scale.
"The OCUDU Initiative is building the base layer software technology stack upon which 6G and future networks can provide scalable commercial-grade connectivity to the DoW and public network consumers in the U.S. and around the world," says Dr. Tom Rondeau, Principal Director for the DoW's FutureG Office. "This vision will be realized in part through the formation of the OCUDU Ecosystem Foundation and partnerships with industry leaders like Ericsson, who bring leadership, expertise and experience deploying resilient networks at scale. Through these partnerships, the OCUDU Ecosystem Foundation will help guide development of this open, AI-enabled software stack and enable the DoW to rapidly field networks of the future required to establish dominance in battle and the global economic landscape."
"Ericsson's decision to join the OCUDU Ecosystem Foundation as a founding premier member reflects our long-standing commitment to open innovation and the development of trusted, secure networks," says Erik Ekudden, Group Chief Technology Officer, Ericsson. "Through this community, we are helping advance a technology neutral open RAN foundation that will accelerate innovation for AI-powered 5G and AI native 6G."
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