TELECOMS AND EDGE COMPUTING
From festivals to frontline heroes, Ericsson’s Blessing Makumbe reveals how 5G, AI and cloudnative tech are transforming a connected future
WRITTEN BY: STELLA NOLAN 48 August 2025
Blessing Makumbe, Vice President and Head of Cloud Software & Services for the UK and Ireland, Ericsson
TELECOMS AND EDGE COMPUTING
a heritage spanning more than 120 years, Ericsson UK & Ireland stands as a cornerstone of the region’s telecommunications landscape. Supporting up to 80 million mobile subscriptions in the UK and maintaining a global centre of excellence in Ireland, Ericsson is at the forefront of 5G rollout, digital innovation and critical infrastructure modernisation.
Blessing Makumbe, Vice President and Head of Cloud Software & Services for the UK and Ireland at Ericsson shares his journey, the company’s pivotal role in shaping the industry and his vision for the future of connectivity.
A career built on transformation
Blessing’s journey into telecommunications began at the University of Cape Town, where he studied electrical engineering and discovered a passion for the field. “I’ve been in the telecoms space for nearly two decades now,” he reflects. “What started at university quickly became a lifelong pursuit.”
After early roles at Siemens (later Nokia) and a leadership position at Vodacom, a subsidiary of Vodafone, he joined Ericsson. “It’s been almost 11 years with Ericsson now, an incredible journey through different geographies and technologies,” he says.
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