ATT says ORAN to cover 70 of its US traffic by late 2026
Ericsson shares up 9, Nokia falls 8
ATT will also use vendors such as Fujitsu, Corning, Dell, Intel

STOCKHOLM, Dec 5 Reuters ATT has chosen Ericsson to build a telecom network using a new costcutting technology ORAN that will cover 70 of its wireless traffic in the United States by late 2026.

The 14 billion, fiveyear deal will boost Ericsson39;s share in one of the largest telecom players in the world, and erode the presence of rival Nokia in the North American market.

Ericsson shares rose 9 and were on track for its best day in years, topping the panEuropean STOXX 600. Nokia shares fell 8 to the bottom of the index early on Tuesday, following ATT39;s announcement late on Monday.

ORAN, or open radio access network, promises deep cost cuts for telecom operators as it uses cloudbased software and gear from many suppliers instead of relying on proprietary equipment supplied by companies such as Nokia, Ericsson and Huawei HWT.UL which do not work with each other.

While telecom providers such as Telefonica and Vodafone have tested the technology, mass adoption has been slow. New networks by Dish and Japan39;s Rakuten use Open RAN.

ATT has been analysing Open RAN for six months with a team of hundreds, an executive said, and has looked at multiple vendors and sought proposals.

All of the new equipment that we are going to be putting out will be Open RAN capable, Chris Sambar, executive vice president, Network,…