Ericsson CEO Börje Ekholm has warned that the industry structure of Europe is unsustainable and called for consolidation across the region to boost competitiveness. The comments came after the company announced that it would cut 8,500 jobs as part of its cost-cutting measures. Ekholm said that Europe’s customers cannot afford to build out the networks, and this could hurt European competitiveness long term. Speaking at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Ekholm said, “You know my view on this, I do believe Europe needs to consolidate”.
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Ekholm cited the examples of the US, China, and India, where consolidation has led to two or three operators nationwide. However, in Europe, there are 200 operators, almost four-plus in almost every country. He said, “It is an industry structure that is probably unsustainable and that needs to be addressed”.
Ekholm believes it is still “very, very early” in the 5G journey but expects India to build one of the world’s strongest 5G networks in the next few quarters. He said that India would also “probably start to drive innovation on top of the network well before many other countries”.
