Enea’s pioneering 5G Service Engine developed in NI

Pictured L-R are: Jeremy Fitch, Executive Director of Business Growth, Invest NI; Liam McCollum, Director of Software Engineering, Enea and Fergus Wills, Strategic Marketing Manager, Enea.

Software provider, Enea has made a strategic investment in Research & Development (R&D) to build a 5G next generation mobile telecoms platform from its Northern Ireland Engineering Centre. Assisted by a grant from Invest Northern Ireland, the investment has enabled Enea to be first to market with a 5G next generation mobile telecoms platform.

Headquartered in Stockholm and listed on the Nasdaq Stockholm stock exchange, Enea is a world-leading specialist in software for telecom and cybersecurity. Its new 5G Service Engine (SE) platform is helping global telecoms providers to intelligently manage traffic to and from their sites.

Talking about how Invest NI’s R&D support has helped the company develop its new product, Jeremy Fitch, Executive Director of Business Growth at Invest NI said: “Enea is a global pioneer and provides technology to more than 100 communication service providers whose networks support over 4.5 billion people. Its Belfast team has had a presence here for over 20 years and has grown a unique set of skills which now position the Belfast operation as a centre of excellence for 5G traffic management technology development.

"Our R&D assistance supported the company’s earlier 4G technology which helped it to grow in the US, Europe and Asia Pacific.  Through our offer of assistance, Enea has built on the performance of its past technologies and entered the 5G domain.

“It’s great to see a technology of this calibre being developed in Northern Ireland. The 5G SE platform is a great example of how investing in R&D can help a company innovate and keep up with shifting consumer demands. It also supports The Department for the Economy’s 10X Economic Vision, enhancing Northern Ireland’s reputation as a knowledge-based economy.”

Liam McCollum, Director of Software Engineering at Enea said: “With the revolution of 5G comes a greater demand for secure and reliable systems to manage network traffic and data. People around the world are engaging in more and more ways to watch video content, particularly with the popularity of channels like YouTube and the increase in ‘on demand’ services. Our 5G Service Engine (5G SE) enables telecom providers to add value and enhance that user experience in 5G.

“From the outset, this was a technically ambitious project. The exceptional talent in our Belfast centre enabled us to research and ultimately develop our new cloud-based architecture for 5G Services which is changing the face of mobile telecommunications worldwide. Northern Ireland’s talent and the R&D support from Invest NI were key to our decision in choosing to develop the new platform here. We’re already seeing great interest globally and in September 2022 we secured a significant contract with a market-leading North American mobile operator.”

Enea acquired US based Openwave Mobility in early 2018 which included the established R&D team in Belfast. Openwave was one of the pioneers behind the emergence of the internet and its technologies are used by billions globally when using their mobile phones or connecting to the Internet. This strong presence in Northern Ireland complements further R&D and sales offices throughout the world, enabling Enea to serve many of the world’s leading telecoms companies including Vodafone, Orange, Telefonica and AT&T.

In recognition of Enea’s commitment to innovation, Innovate NI has awarded the company a Platinum Level Innovator Certificate.

Invest NI is committed to driving innovation in Northern Ireland and is a proud partner of Innovate NI, a Department for the Economy programme, helping local businesses innovate successfully. For further information, visit www.innovateni.com

Invest NI’s R&D support is part funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the Investment for Growth and Jobs Northern Ireland (2014-2020) Programme.