Global associations from around the world joined together to offer the first of what will be biannual global 5G events in Beijing on May 31 and June 1, 2016. The hosting association, the IMT-2020 Promotion Group in China, organized the first event, "Building the 5G Technology Ecosystem" to bring together experts from all corners of the globe to discuss the status and progress on 5G through a series of focused sessions.
Huawei and Singapore mobile operator, StarHub, have demonstrated what they say is the world's fastest indoor mobile network coverage, 1Gpbs, using a single small cell base station no bigger than a ream of A4 paper.
Reliance Communications subsidiary Global Cloud Xchange (GCX) has formed a partnership with Cornell University's Electrical and Computer Engineering Department to test and implement new technology for dynamic, optimal routing.
Internet of Things (IoT) platform provider, Kii, has announced that it is bringing its IoT platform, experience and smart city expertise to enable smart city solutions in India. It kicked off its efforts at the 'IoT in Smart City' event held on March 18 in Hyderabad.
Singtel has opened the Singtel Cyber Security Institute (CSI), describing it as a hybrid between an advanced cyber range and an educational institute, and claiming it to be the first of its kind in the region to test and train companies in dealing with sophisticated cyber threats.
A consortium led by SK Telecom has been chosen by the Institute for Information & communications Technology Promotion under the Korean Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning to undertake a government-funded project on a quantum cryptography communication network and has begun operating national test networks in five areas in Korea.
The Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF), China Unicom, ON.Lab, and Huawei have signed a MoU to collaborate on using open source software to 'transform central offices and accelerate the industry transition to third network services.' They say they will develop proof of concept use cases that illustrate how operators can deliver agile, assured and orchestrated MEF-defined services by using open source software and open specification hardware.
China Mobile and 11 partners have launched a 5G Joint Innovation Center project at the GTI Summit 2016, held during World Mobile Congress in Barcelona. Early partners include Huawei, ZTE, Ericsson, Nokia, Qualcomm, Datang, Intel, Keysight, Beijing Shougang Automation Information Technology Co, Haier and Hisense.
Nokia and China Mobile have conducted a trial of centralized radio access network technology within a TD-LTE network in a sports stadium to demonstrate how the combination can meet the high-speed, high-bandwidth demands generated by spectators increasingly expecting the same level of mobile connectivity they have in the home so they can share pictures and videos via social media or upload content to the cloud.
Korea has become the biggest spender on R&D as a percentage of GDP, taking the lead from Israel, according to figures from the OECD.
