Ericsson unleashed a new enterprise networking combination embedded with seeds from its Cradlepoint division, however it’s entering a market that continues to strain for significant traction.

The combination includes the latest Cradlepoint E400 router, which houses support for the 3GPP Release 17 specification for 5G cellular, Wi-Fi 6, and low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite connectivity. It also includes the latest Cradlepoint LAN switches and access points.

The E400 router follows on the previous E300-series routers that have been adopted by several operators.

The latest products are managed by Ericsson’s NetCloud Manager platform that is a centralized point of control and provisioning of the network resources, embedded eSIM, and dual-SIM device capabilities. Ericsson’s NetCloud also supports secure access service edge (SASE), SD-WAN, and 5G network slicing control, which includes the ability to bond different network access paths.

Gartner ranked Cradlepoint as a “niche” player in its most recent appraisal of SD-WAN providers, though it was lauded for its scale. Gartner estimated that the vendor served 7,500 SD-WAN customers, “with operations primarily in North America, Europe and the Asia/Pacific region, focusing on cellular wireless WAN use cases in specific verticals such as retail, transportation, and public safety.”

The platform launch is the latest expansion of Ericsson’s Cradlepoint ownership.

Ericsson acquired Cradlepoint for $1.1 billion in 2020, in a move that Ericsson’s management said was targeted at boosting its presence in the enterprise networking space.

Ericsson late last year took over primary branding of those efforts, which an executive said was done in a manner that would minimize distractions.

“There’s a lot of brand equity on the Cradlepoint side of things and the NetCloud side of things as well, so we’re not losing that completely,” Matt Addicks, head of product marketing and strategy at Ericsson, explained at the time. “So you’ll see things like NetCloud Manager will be called Ericsson NetCloud Manager, and it’ll be Ericsson Cradlepoint. We’re still keeping some of that consistency there just to make sure that our customers know that the brand is still there, and the people are still there and the support is still there that they can trust.”

Addicks explained that the new products, platforms, and branding move better positions Ericsson to provide an “end-to-end 5G networking and security stack across the enterprise LAN and WAN.”

“The platform of offerings will become stickier in the enterprise and allow Ericsson to better compete against other enterprise networking vendors and telco vendors that are that are out there today,” Addicks said.

Ericsson during its most recent earnings call reported that enterprise wireless solution sales increased 19%, with CFO Lars Sandstrom adding, “with strong growth in private 5G and neutral host solutions.”

Where’s the enterprise network market headed? Ericsson’s latest platform launch also comes as the private 5G space continues to languish.

A recent survey-based report from analyst firm CCS Insights highlighted early benefits gleaned from initial private network deployments. The firm found that two-thirds of enterprises that were early adopters of private networks “reported productivity improvements as a direct result of operating a private LTE or 5G network, with 55% achieving a return on investment in less than two years.” Those surveyed noted that they selected private 5G over a Wi-Fi solution due to “improved coverage, security, reliability, and network performance.”

However, CCS Insights also noted that “the lack of fully integrated, off-the-shelf 5G solutions continues to hinder scalability and limits the technology’s potential across industries,” and a continuing lack of market maturity “remains a barrier.”

“Respondents emphasized the need for easier, integrated solutions,” CCS Insights’ Luke Pearce wrote. “One interviewee noted, ‘we don’t see many off-the-shelf fully 5G integrated solutions available to us. We shouldn’t have to build this capability. We want to buy it off the shelf.’”

This lack of integration can be attributed to the number of entities attempting to gain a foothold in the space. Analysts have noted that enterprises looking to deploy a private network are having to weed through a maze of carriers, equipment providers, and system integrators (SIs), all touting their market advantages.

Dan Hays, a partner at consulting firm PwC, said the recent Mobile World Congress (MWC) event in Barcelona showed “there was notably less noise about private networks than there has been the last few years,” adding, “I think that they’ve become an accepted model, but one that still is kind of a little bit unproven in its value proposition.”

UPDATE: Ericsson has updated its incorrect initial information that the products are Wi-Fi 6 compatible and not Wi-Fi 7 compatible.