• Companies sign a three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to explore initiatives aimed at reducing energy consumption and building more efficient and sustainable future networks  
• Group to garner Ericsson’s expertise and products for developing energy-efficient strategies to realise its carbon management ambitions

e& (formerly known as Etisalat Group) and Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the sidelines of the 27^th Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC (COP27) in Egypt, to explore initiatives aimed at reducing energy consumption and building more efficient and sustainable future networks.

The three-year partnership aims to support the Net Zero strategy of e& and Ericsson while exploring opportunities to reduce carbon emissions and energy consumption. The companies will also collaborate in hosting a series of knowledge-sharing sessions, covering Ericsson’s global expertise in energy-efficient strategies, such as its 'Breaking the Energy Curve' initiative.

e& will continue to work towards reducing the carbon footprint through the utilization of Ericsson’s industry-leading and sustainable products and services. Ericsson's global product ‘Take-Back Program’ will explored further for potential collaboration that could support e& drive responsible disposal and recycling of e-waste across the Group's network.

The partnership is part of e&’s ambition to accelerate the transition to Net Zero and underlines the importance of improving network energy performance to meet Net Zero targets.

Sabri Ali Albreiki, Chief Technology Officer, e& international, says: "Through our partnership with Ericsson, we aim to accelerate the decarbonization of our network infrastructure business by exploring the deployment of their latest generation of energy efficient radio equipment and software features. We will also work together to use the Ericsson Product Take-Back program to dispose of and recycle obsolete network equipment to high environmental standards. This agreement is part of e&'s broader commitment to reduce waste and achieve a sustainable low-carbon society.”  

Ekow Nelson, Vice President and Head of Global Customer Unit for e& at Ericsson Middle East and Africa, says: “Working with e&, we will explore various sustainability initiatives that will help them break the energy curve and develop greener network infrastructure in their countries of operation. Through our Global Product Take-Back and innovatively sustainable 5G solutions such as our intelligent RAN energy-saving software features, we are confident e& will be able to reduce its environmental footprint and manage the expected growth in data traffic using as little energy as possible.”