Joint bid for 5G base stations
NEC Corp will join hands with Samsung Electronics Co to develop and sell base stations for fifth-generation, or 5G, mobile communications services, it was learned Sunday.
In the United States, 5G services have partially started, while in Japan, carriers are aiming to begin their services in some areas on a trial basis in 2019. Full-scale 5G launches are expected for 2020 at the earliest. At present, 5G services are seen using different frequency bands depending on the country.
The Japanese and South Korean companies will divide work to develop 5G base stations so that each can focus on frequency bands it is good at, informed sources said.
NEC hopes to develop products compatible with the Japanese band, according to the sources.
Japanese and US companies are pulling ahead in the race to develop 5G technologies, with Chinese makers catching up with support from the government.
NEC and Samsung will consider using their sales networks to market each other’s products around the world, the sources said.