Taiwan telecom firm forges 5G partnerships with Nokia, Ericsson

2017/03/03

Chunghwa Telecom Co., Taiwan’s largest telecommunications services provider, signed memorandums of understanding with two major multinational communication technology companies at the 2017 Mobile World Congress in Spain, furthering its goal of fostering the development of the country’s 5G infrastructure.

CHT inked an agreement with Nokia Feb. 27 and another with Ericsson the following day at the MWC, the largest annual gathering of the mobile technology industry worldwide. The pacts will foster information sharing between CHT and the two companies, while boosting collaboration in the development and promotion of 5G, or fifth-generation, wireless communication technology.

Under their agreement, CHT and Nokia will work to create 5G and Internet of Things innovations that reduce power consumption and the number of base stations required to establish a network. The two companies will also collaborate on 5G design concepts, product launches, R&D projects and spectrum plans.

CHT and Ericsson will cooperate on identifying 5G applications for selected industries including transportation and utilities. The two firms have also agreed to work with the public, private and academic sectors to accelerate the development of smart cities and the mobile telecommunications ecosystem.

“We are expecting 5G adoption to begin in the near future, hence we are focusing on ways for the industry to adopt the 5G standard globally,” said Chris Houghton, head of Northeast Asian operations for Ericsson. “Partnerships such as this one with CHT help push the entire world toward better, faster living and working for people and businesses.”

Also at this year’s MWC, running Feb. 27 to March 2 in Barcelona, CHT showcased its latest mobile and IoT innovations at its “A Smart City for All” exhibit. Aimed at helping people with visual impairments, the featured technologies provide users with information about the immediate vicinity, offer them directional guidance and notify them of potential dangers or obstacles on their route.

Since CHT launched Taiwan’s first 4G network in 2014, the number of subscribers has reached 18.4 million, while the country is ranked fourth in Asia for mobile data speeds by U.K.-based analysis firm OpenSignal. In addition, 13 of the nation’s cities and counties have been recognized by Intelligent Community Forum as smart communities, while Taipei and central Taiwan’s Taichung City were named Intelligent Community of the Year by the New York-based nongovernmental organization in 2006 and 2013, respectively.
 

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/news.php?unit=6&post=112076)