Nokia and Tencent have signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly conduct research and development into 5G technologies that could benefit hundreds of millions of internet users in China.
Under the agreement, the two companies will build an end-to-end 5G test environment in Shenzhen. They will explore how 5G’s AI and automation management capabilities can be applied to promote international standards and foster an open-source ecosystem, accelerating the development of next-generation services.
The collaboration will include research into 5G applications that leverage edge computing and related technologies. These capabilities are expected to provide advantages across multiple sectors, including entertainment, transportation, intelligent manufacturing, energy, and finance.
Marc Rouanne, President of Mobile Networks at Nokia, said the partnership demonstrates how web-scale companies can take advantage of Nokia’s end-to-end 5G Future X portfolio. He noted that working together will enable delivery of networks able to support a wide range of applications and services with the reliability and availability needed to meet evolving user demands.
Nokia is also advancing its 5G strategy through new infrastructure and platform efforts. The company has developed the AirFrame open edge cloud infrastructure to help operators optimize network resources and distribute workloads more effectively across the network. The AirFrame open edge server, designed for deployment at existing base station sites, was scheduled to begin shipping in the third quarter of 2018.