Swedish vendor Ericsson and China Mobile Research Institute signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on “5G” research and development as well as “Internet of Things” technology.
China Mobile, the world’s largest mobile operator by number of subscribers, is accelerating investments in both LTE rollouts and 5G initiatives. The agreement will initially cover a five-year period, with the collaboration set to include verification, trial and standardization of a new 5G air interface for commercial deployment by 2020. Ericsson and China Mobile will also focus on network architecture evolution to support 5G, including close interworking between 5G and LTE, as well as innovative radio access network features to support future industrial use cases. The MoU also stipulates joint research and standardization efforts toward global alignment on 5G.
The MoU also stipulates cooperation on the IoT segment, including demonstration, verification and trial of narrowband IoT for machine-type communication, as well as collaboration on corresponding vertical use cases.
“China Mobile officially deployed 4G at the end of 2013, and 4G+ is now officially launched,” said Yuhong Huang, deputy head of CMRI. “We aim to improve network performance, which has provided 300 million customers with excellent user experiences, and which is the key driver for China’s Internet+ strategy. … As the next generation of mobile infrastructure, 5G is the key pillar for ICT development globally. We feel that closer and more active cooperation between Ericsson and China Mobile will foster tangible results in 5G by helping to drive standardization, research and development, and creating an integrated, cross-industry ecosystem.”
China Mobile initially launched LTE services in December 2013, using spectrum in the 1900 MHz, 2.3 GHz and 2.5 GHz bands. By the end of October, the operator claimed 267.3 million LTE subscribers, accounting for 32.4% of the carrier’s overall mobile customer base.
The telco recently completed the deployment of more than 1 million LTE base stations across China. Plans for 2016 include the deployment of 300,000 additional base stations.
