Moscow: China’s Huawei Technologies yesterday signed an agreement with Russian telecom company MTS to develop a 5G network in the country over the next year.
The agreement was signed on the sidelines of a meeting between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
The deal will see “the development of 5G technologies and the pilot launch of fifth generation networks in 2019-2020”, MTS said. Huawei’s Guo Ping, said he was “very happy” with the agreement “in an area of strategic importance like 5G”.
China also announced 5G licences will be granted for commercial use today.
China’s 5G industry has built a competitive edge by combining independent innovation and open co-operation, the country’s Industry and Information Technology Ministry (MIIT) said, adding that 5G standards are unified international standards jointly established by global industry players and China now owns more than 30 per cent of the standard essential patents for the technology.
Foreign enterprises including Nokia, Ericsson, Qualcomm and Intel have been deeply involved in the experiment of the technologies, and China’s 5G is ready for commercial use thanks to the joint efforts from various parties, the MIIT said.
China, as always, welcomes enterprises at home and abroad to actively take part in the building, application and promotion of its 5G network and share the sector’s development dividends, the MIIT said.