Qualcomm has announced a partnership with Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) to accelerate development of 5G NR-enabled small cell technologies. The collaboration aims to speed up the delivery and global commercialization of 5G NR small cell products and infrastructure by Taiwanese OEMs and ODMs.
According to Jim Cathey, Senior Vice President and President of APAC & India at Qualcomm International, the collaboration is part of Qualcomm’s broader investment in Taiwan to support rapid deployment of 5G NR technology. He emphasized that enabling fast innovation of 5G NR small cells among Taiwanese OEMs and ODMs will help deliver anticipated 5G experiences, shorten time to market, and reduce overall costs.
Dr. Tzi-Cker Chiueh, General Director of the Information and Communication Laboratories at ITRI, noted that small cells will play an essential role in future 5G networks by enhancing performance across both mmWave and sub-6 GHz spectrum. He welcomed the opportunity to work closely with Qualcomm Technologies, a global leader in end-to-end 5G development.
Dr. Chiueh added that the collaboration will give ITRI early access to Qualcomm’s key 5G small cell technologies. This includes support for building industry-grade quality assurance capabilities for communication protocol products and establishing a live network testbed for product testing and performance validation under real-world conditions before field trial launches. He said these resources will help position Taiwanese companies and Taiwan as leaders in driving next-generation 5G networks.
Small cell solutions are generally easier and less costly to deploy than traditional macrocells. Their flexible form factors make them well suited to deliver faster mobile data speeds in dense urban areas, indoors, and other locations where macrocells may struggle to provide consistent coverage. By enabling more granular network densification through small cells, operators can boost capacity, reduce latency, and improve user experience across a variety of scenarios.
The Qualcomm–ITRI partnership is expected to support Taiwanese OEMs and ODMs in accelerating product development cycles, enhancing interoperability, and meeting stringent quality standards required for global commercialization. With shared access to technology, testing facilities, and expert guidance, local suppliers can refine designs, validate performance in live conditions, and move more quickly from prototype to market-ready products.
As demand for high-capacity, low-latency connectivity grows—driven by applications such as immersive media, industrial IoT, smart cities, and augmented reality—small cells will be critical to delivering the dense coverage and performance these services require. Collaborations like this one aim to reduce barriers to deployment, lower costs for network operators, and encourage a more competitive ecosystem of 5G equipment providers.
Overall, the partnership between Qualcomm and ITRI highlights Taiwan’s role in the global 5G supply chain and reflects broader industry efforts to accelerate innovation in small cell technologies. By combining Qualcomm’s 5G expertise with ITRI’s local research capabilities and testing infrastructure, the initiative seeks to bring more robust, commercially viable small cell solutions to market faster and at lower cost.