Chinese telecom giant Huawei agrees to aid 5G development

Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei and Japanese mobile operator NTT DOCOMO are teaming up to develop 5G radio access technology, the Chinese company announced on Tuesday.

The tests will be carried out in both China and Japan with the aim of validating the bases of RAT technology for emerging 5G networks, whose commercial launch has been predicted for 2020, the same year as the Olympic Games will be held in Tokyo.

The 5G technology is expected to have a capacity 1,000 times greater and will be an estimated 100 times faster than current 4G networks and will allow for 100 billion devices to be connected, something considered vital for the emerging Internet of Things.

"NTT DOCOMO is working to develop key advanced technologies which offer the best communication experience to their consumers," said Seizo Onoe, NTT DOCOMO executive vice president and chief technology officer.

"From that perspective, it is a pleasure for us to work with Huawei, whose experience in this kind of technology has brought about key advances," Onoe added.

Ryan Ding, Huawei president of products and solutions and a member of the company's board of executives said: "5G technology is the cornerstone of the development of a better connected world and in that way it will transform our lives and the way in which we work in the coming decades."

"If we want to make the 5G market a reality, it is necessary for the industry to make an effort and we are delighted to be able to collaborate with DOCOMO from the first phase," he said.

"I think that working together we will bring numerous potential benefits closer to our clients," he added.

Meanwhile, at the ongoing 2015 Mobile World Congress held in Barcelona, Huawei has announced plans to invest at least 600 million U.S. dollars in research and development for 5G technology over the next three years. The agreement with DOCOMO is merely the latest in a long line of accords with companies from all over the world for Huawei to work on the development of 5G technology.