Ericsson has enhanced its 5G Platform portfolio, introduced in February 2017, with new solutions for the radio and core network. The company launched 5G Radio Access Network (RAN) commercial software, based on the recently approved first 3GPP 5G New Radio (NR) standard.
Private equity firm One Equity Partners has partnered with Ericsson on its Media Solutions business and One Equity Partners will become the majority shareholder. Ericsson will retain 49% of the shares in the company. Ericsson remains the owner of Red Bee Media and will continue to develop it as an independent and focused media services business. The terms of the transaction are confidential.
Chinese vendor Huawei and Telefonica have formally announced a world first in vehicle communications at their 5G joint innovation lab in Madrid.
Huawei has signed a cooperation agreement with UnionPay International with the aim of working together to promote the globalization of Huawei Pay and accelerate its roll-out worldwide to provide a "better mobile payment experience" for Huawei mobile device users.
Nokia and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, have successfully completed interoperability testing in the 3.5Ghz and 28Ghz spectrum compliant with the global 3GPP 5G NR Release 15 standard - which was formally confirmed in December - and using the commercially available Nokia AirScale base station and device prototypes from Qualcomm Technologies.
German telecom giant Deutsche Telekom (DT) and Huawei, together with Intel, announced they have collaborated to achieve the world's first 5G interoperability and development testing (IODT) based on the 3GPP R15 Standard with a commercial base station.
Qualcomm and Samsung have strengthened their relationship, which could help the mobile chipmaker fend off its antitrust case in South Korea. As part of an expanded cross-license agreement, Samsung "will be withdrawing its interventions" into Qualcomm's appeal against an $868 million fine announced in 2016 over what the Korean Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) deemed "excessive" licensing fees.
Qualcomm released a statement on January 24 confirming it will appeal a massive fine imposed by the European Commission for alleged market dominance abuse. Earlier that day, the European Commission said in a statement it had decided to fine Qualcomm €997 million ($1.2 billion) for payments it made to Apple in order to secure its leading market position for LTE baseband chipsets.
Ericsson announced an internal shake-up on Wednesday with the launch of a new unit, Business Area Emerging Business, which will consolidate other units within the company. The new business unit will focus on innovation and new business development, with a focus on IoT and 5G. It will be led by former McKinsey & Company partner Asa Tamsons.
With mobile data traffic surging by eight times and 1 billion 5G subscriptions expected by the end of 2023, mobile operators must meet consumer and enterprise demand for applications such as 4K/8K video streaming, virtual reality/augmented reality, and immersive media, suggests telecom equipment vendor Ericsson.
