On December 8th, Huawei and the BT Group announced a new partnership on the basis of a common goal to develop 5G mobile technologies. Together, the two companies will “conduct pioneering joint research into 5G” and consider the “technical and commercial feasibility” of deploying 5G technologies, hoping to push the standardization and development of 5G in the industry.
According to an official report from BT Group, both companies will conduct their work and research at BT Labs in Ipswich “and other locations around the UK”. Amongst the main focuses of BT and Huawei count network slicing to allow operators to divide network resources to specific services; network architecture, specifically “a new air interface between devices and base stations”, security technologies, and the development of machine-to-machine communications for Internet of Things (IoT) purposes. According to BT CEO, Gavin Patterson, as networking technology moves forward, collaborative research is the key to developing 5G even further, and both BT and Huawei are committed to pushing 5G technologies to their maximum potential for customers. The CEO also added that the partnership with smartphone maker Huawei will see both companies exploring the potential of 5G networking in order to meet the needs of customers in both the consumer market and enterprises across the globe. It’s worth noting that Huawei and BT have been partners for more than a decade, and according to Ken Hu, Deputy Chairman of the Board at Huawei “we are very proud of our work with BT over the last eleven years.” Both companies have previously carried research and development in networking and telecommunication over the years, and with the rise of 5G technology, they are both looking forward to continuing their “fruitful partnership.”
It’s also worth reminding that, last September, Huawei became part of the new 5G Automotive Association together with Intel, Nokia, Qualcomm, Ericsson, as well as German car manufacturers Audi, BMW, and Daimler. On the other hand, earlier in August 2016 BT Group also announced their collaboration with Nokia, agreeing to work together on the creation of 5G Proof of Concept trials. Earlier still in July, BT Group along with a handful of other telecom companies have joined forces to prepare a “5G Action Plan” in order to accelerate the deployment of 5G technologies in the European Union, and ensure a rollout before the year 2020.