Skanska and Ericsson partner to make environmentally-smart buildings smarter with Radio Dot System

  • Construction and communications industry leaders partner to address growing demand for indoor networks to support mobile voice, data and Internet of Things (IoT)

  • Radio Dot System, an ultra-compact indoor small cell solution, improves mobile broadband coverage and capacity and reduces dropped calls through seamless integration with outdoor mobile network

  • Innovative system design enables faster installation and lower power requirements than traditional indoor solutions

Robust and environmentally-smart buildings are not always the best environment for smartphones. Energy efficient windows, for example, can reduce the indoor app coverage and seamless mobility that mobile device users increasingly demand. To make smart buildings smarter, Ericsson (ERIC) and Skanska, one of the world`s leading project development and construction groups, have partnered to test and build mobile infrastructure in indoor environments, using the innovative Ericsson Radio Dot System.

Håkan Stenström, Vice President, Skanska Sweden, says: "Skanska develops and build homes, offices and infrastructure and our job is to help make living, working and traveling easier. One of the ways we can do this is by facilitating high-performance mobile communications within our buildings to enable the development of smart services for residents. At the same time, we aim to be the industry leader in sustainable building practices so we are very interested in working with Ericsson to explore ways to improve mobile broadband coverage and capacity in our buildings in a way that complements our focus on sustainability and green construction. This solution makes it possible to optimize the use of energy in the building."

The Radio Dot System delivers high performance app coverage indoors and supports seamless mobility with the outdoor mobile network. Deployments in commercial office buildings worldwide have already proven the benefits of this innovative small cell architecture. Mobile data throughput has improved by up to five times, dropped calls have been reduced to zero, and total system installation times are as low as four minutes per Dot. In addition, the Radio Dot System has been designed to consume less power than traditional indoor solutions.

Arun Bansal, Senior Vice President and Head of Business Unit Radio, Ericsson, says: "Ericsson shares Skanska`s commitment to sustainability so we are excited to work with them to jointly deploy the Ericsson Radio Dot System for both 3G and LTE, evaluate opportunities for scaling, and explore different use cases from consumer mobile voice and data to new IoT applications. The Radio Dot`s iconic design is welcome in any environment and the benefits it delivers have already been proven around the world."