Verizon and Ericsson are expanding their collaboration to roll out the Ericsson Intelligent Controller (EIC) across the US as part of efforts aimed at advancing automation within mobile networks through AI.
This move will enable the deployment of AI-native rApps from both Ericsson and Verizon on the EIC platform throughout the latter’s US network.
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Verizon said that trials using the EIC and Ericsson rApps in a live network environment demonstrated improved efficiency and throughput through AI-driven cell shaping and traffic steering.
According to the company, these tests included autonomous management of massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO). They also involved the application of an inter-radio access technology (IRAT) handover from long term evolution (LTE) to Standalone 5G for fixed wireless access (FWA) devices, reducing the need for manual intervention during handover failures.
Verizon network planning vice president Matt Butz said: “Our expanded collaboration with Ericsson brings AI-native RAN automation that elevates performance across mobility and Fixed Wireless Access.
“Using the Ericsson Intelligent Controller, and Ericsson rApps, in a live environment, we demonstrated AI cell shaping of massive MIMO and traffic steering with significant gains in throughput and efficiency.
“Verizon’s ability to self-develop rApps on this open platform will help usher in a new level of automation as we prepare for 6G.”
Ericsson stated that the open, programmable nature of the EIC allows Verizon to develop and deploy its own rApps alongside those supplied by Ericsson, offering agility in addressing network management tasks.
Ericsson Americas customer unit Verizon cloud software and services vice president and head Ravi Vaidyanathan said: “We’re proud to deepen our collaboration with Verizon to advance how AI transforms mobile networks.
“Together, we’re driving major gains in network performance and building a smarter, more efficient and autonomous network, unlocking better customer experiences and transforming operations.”
Verizon intends to deploy both self-developed and Ericsson-supplied rApps, including applications for anomaly detection and optimisation.
The planned rApps, such as the Cell Anomaly Detector, Root Cause Explainer, and Anomaly General Optimizer, are intended to enhance network performance and expand operational automation.
EIC is part of the Ericsson Intelligent Automation Platform (EIAP), which is designed to offer network management and automation across multi-vendor and multi-technology radio access networks.
Ericsson said that the EIAP supports over 100 rApps and is developed with open standards to facilitate a broad ecosystem.
Field tests involving the deployment of rApps for closed-loop optimisation reportedly provided improvements of up to 8.9% in downlink throughput and up to 8% in uplink throughput. Verizon plans to complete the EIC rollout this year.
In March 2026, Ericsson and Intel formed a partnership to develop AI-native 6G technologies, seeking to help the industry move from research to commercial use.
