YOU ARE AT:5GEricsson, KDDI partner on 5G research and development

Ericsson, KDDI partner on 5G research and development

The 5G R&D agreement will focus on radio and core technologies

Swedish vendor Ericsson signed a memorandum of understanding with Japanese telecom operator KDDI to collaborate on “5G” research and development with an eye on potential uses and deployment strategies. 

Under the agreement, the companies plan to develop a joint understanding of 5G use cases, requirements and deployment scenarios, as well as evaluate performance and applicability of potential 5G key technology components. Ericsson said the areas of interest for the companies include radio and core technologies.

“We are committed to providing high-quality network performance and user experience to address the needs and expectation of our customers. Through our joint efforts with Ericsson we will study 5G technologies and take an important step toward bringing 5G capabilities to the market,” said Yoshiaki Uchida, KDDI managing executive officer for the technology sector.

Chris Houghton, head of Ericsson’s North East Asia Region, said “This MoU is another important milestone in Ericsson’s partnership with KDDI and an opportunity for both companies to strengthen the technology foundation for the evolution toward 5G. The combination of Ericsson and KDDI’s technology leadership will generate valuable synergies that strengthen our research and development.”

Ericsson’s latest 5G test network initiatives cover the interactions between mobile devices and radio access networks in both indoor and outdoor scenarios, as well as the new capabilities and characteristics of core networks based on network functions virtualization and software-defined networking technologies.

LTE-A reaches 100 networks worldwide

LTE-Advanced technology has been deployed in 100 networks worldwide, according to a recent report by industry group 4G Americas.

The report shows LTE-A technology is already commercially available in 49 markets. The first LTE-A network was launched in South Korea in June 2013.

In the Asia-Pacific region, LTE-A networks are commercially available in Australia, China, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan, according to 4G Americas’ latest report.

ABOUT AUTHOR

Juan Pedro Tomás
Juan Pedro Tomás
Juan Pedro covers Global Carriers and Global Enterprise IoT. Prior to RCR, Juan Pedro worked for Business News Americas, covering telecoms and IT news in the Latin American markets. He also worked for Telecompaper as their Regional Editor for Latin America and Asia/Pacific. Juan Pedro has also contributed to Latin Trade magazine as the publication's correspondent in Argentina and with political risk consultancy firm Exclusive Analysis, writing reports and providing political and economic information from certain Latin American markets. He has a degree in International Relations and a master in Journalism and is married with two kids.