Ericsson to ramp up headcount at Bengaluru R&D center

NEW DELHI: ICT solutions provider Ericsson is planning to expand workforce in its Bengaluru facility by expanding its engineering base by around 15% this year.

Ericsson plans to add to its workforce by hiring in the areas of Cloud, IP Routing, Network Function Virtualization (NFV), and Virtual Platforms. “This will help solidify our foundation and sharpen our focus in IP which continues to be an area of investment and growth for us“, states Sanjeev Tyagi, Vice-President and Head of Ericsson’s Business Unit Cloud and IP, R&D India.

The Bengaluru facility currently employs over 550 workforce, working on solutions for India as well as for global markets.

Under its IP Edge portfolio, the company is continuing to strengthen its Broadband Network Gateway (BNG) solution deployed on the Smart Services Router (SSR) platform, which helps drive adoption of video and cloud services through an increasingly connected home, offering the end-user a ubiquitously rich and personalized, connected experience.

“The objective before the team is to build carrier grade IP routers and solutions which will help Ericsson build a leadership position in IP and we are intensely focused on achieving this objective”, Tyagi said.

In addition to the IP Edge portfolio, the Bengaluru R&D team has been contributing in Software Defined Networking (SDN) technologies.

“The Controller forms the center-piece of the SDN solution and this team has performed phenomenally well in going from concept to a shipping product in a very short time,” he added.

While the product teams deliver high quality software to demanding customers, Ericsson’s research team in Bengaluru is actively working on technologies that will play a prominent role in the Networked Society of the future. “Our research team is developing advanced technologies in the areas of cloud , management and operations of emerging networks for 5G and the Networked Society”, said Tyagi.

The company estimates that by 2020, there will be 26 billion connected devices in the world. Globally, Ericsson spent 36.3 billion SEK last year on R&D. The company has increased its R&D activities in IP and Cloud.

In India, Ericsson has three R&D facilities - in Gurgaon, Chennai and Bengaluru - focusing on IP, Cloud, SDN, Multimedia Telephony, and Support Solutions including billing, charging and mediation. As of today, over 160 patents have been filed by Ericsson’s R&D Centers in India.