BT and Huawei announce new 5G research partnership

BT and Huawei have teamed up to conduct research into the development of 5G mobile technologies.

The two companies will be investigating ways in which faster communication technologies can be implemented, as well as technical and commercial implications of deploying them.

BT and Huawei will collaborate at BT Labs in Ipswich and other locations around the UK to explore different aspects of 5G, such as network architecture, network slicing, a new air interface between devices and base stations, machine-to-machine communications in Internet of Things (IoT) and security technologies.

Gavin Patterson, CEO of BT said his firm was determined to maximise the potential of 5G for its customers.so collaborative research has a key role to play as the technology develops. This partnership with Huawei will see us explore the potential uses and make sure 5G is designed to meet the needs of our consumer and business customers throughout the world."

"Collaborative research has a key role to play as the technology develops. This partnership with Huawei will see us explore the potential uses and make sure 5G is designed to meet the needs of our consumer and business customers throughout the world," he said.

Ken Hu, deputy chairman of the Board and rotating CEO at Huawei said the firms have conducted joint research and development activities, which have led to new products and solutions.

"With 5G we look forward to continuing this fruitful partnership. Together we can explore the potential of 5G networks and analyse how this vital technology can best be delivered," he said.

The companies have already collaborated in the past, and recently announced trials of 3Tbps data transfer over BT's core network, as well as research into 40Gbps speeds within the Openreach access network.