China Mobile and Ericsson partner on 5G, Internet of Things

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.