Ericsson and China Telecom have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at China Unicom’s 5G Innovation and Cooperation Conference in Shenzhen, China, on April 26, to speed up “the development of commercial 5G and promote 5G technological innovation,” Ericsson stated in its press release on April 30.
Inked by Luca Orsini, Head of Networks, Market Area North East Asia, Ericsson, and Liu Guiqing, Deputy General Manager, China Telecom, the agreement was expected to strengthen the strategic partnership between the companies. This MoU is Ericsson’s forty-fifth announced service provider 5G partnership.
In order to test the technical networking scheme, Ericsson has embarked on in-depth cooperation on a 5G test network with China Telecom by completing innovative 5G projects, such as the live 4K HD broadcast of a marathon; live 8K HD broadcast of the Women’s World Club Volleyball Championship; 360 degree panoramic live broadcasting, and driving demos.
Prior to the China Telecom MoU, Ericsson also announced it has signed another MoU with China Unicom on April 18 at Wuhan, Hubei, China “to develop and deploy AI-based managed services solutions to improve network quality and consumer experiences for the operator,” Ericsson said in the statement published on April 29, 2019.
The purpose of China Unicom MoU is to establish a joint mobile network AI lab to conduct comprehensive research on AI applications for network design and optimization services during the next two years.
As a result of successful integration of the first online deployment for AI-based cell issue classification used in daily operations to help improve customer performance, Ericsson and China Unicom can work in close collaboration to drive thier innovation forward for a key partner.
Wang Rui, deputy general manager of operation and maintenance department of China Unicom Group, said:
“China Unicom and Ericsson are long-term strategic partners. This joint lab for mobile network artificial intelligence, is an important attempt in the field of AI.
“It is of great significance to China Unicom Operations and Maintenance Department, Hubei Unicom and Ericsson. Together we aim to explore the development of AI applications for network services and apply these on a large scale throughout our network in China.”
Agreeably to China Unicom’s DGM, Juan Manuel Melero, Head of Network Design and Optimization, Ericsson, highlighted that working jointly with China Unicom can facilitate both companies in many areas.
“Our collaboration with China Unicom for our first AI innovation lab for network design and optimization services will both enhance AI-based use cases around smart design and intelligent optimization capabilities, and allow for new use cases based on the operator’s needs.
“It will also enable China Unicom to continue improving network performance and user experience,” Melero explained.
