Intel Announces Collaboration with Ericsson to Build 5G Chips Using Intel 18A Technology

Intel announced on Tuesday local time that it will collaborate with Swedish telecommunications equipment manufacturer Ericsson to manufacture customized chips for its 5G network equipment.

As part of the agreement, Intel will also create highly differentiated leading products for Ericsson’s future 5G infrastructure, and will utilize Intel vRAN Boost for Ericsson’s Cloud RAN solution to optimize the fourth generation Intel Xeon scalable processors, helping communication service providers improve network capacity and energy efficiency while achieving greater flexibility and scalability.

According to Intel, this 5G chip will be built based on Intel’s latest publicly available manufacturing technology, the Intel 18A process, which is also the first time an external customer has used this technology.

Intel and Ericsson did not provide a specific timeline, but Intel had previously stated that Intel 18A technology would be ready by 2025.

Intel has lost its leading position in manufacturing advanced semiconductors and has been taken away by competitors such as Samsung and TSMC. An important plan announced by Gelsinger, Intel CEO, in 2021 is to launch a fifth generation chip manufacturing process within four years, in order to regain the leading position and reverse the company’s current situation.

Intel emphasized in the press release that the announcement marks confidence in the 18A technology and highlights the progress Intel has made on its four year five node roadmap, with the aim of regaining its leading position in technology and recasting its past glory.

Intel stated that it will provide ribbon architecture innovation and higher performance in the 18A, while continuously reducing metal line width. The combination of these technologies will enable Intel to regain its leadership position in 2025.