Road to 5G: BT, Huawei Embark on 5G Research Partnership

Two of the world’s leading communications companies - BT and Huawei – have come together to lead the global development of 5G mobile technologies.

The new partnership will see the companies conduct pioneering joint research into 5G, considering how faster mobile communication technologies might be applied, as well as the technical and commercial feasibility of deploying them. It is hoped the research will drive the development and standardization of 5G technologies throughout the industry.

BT and Huawei will work together at the world leading BT Labs in Ipswich and other locations around the UK to explore various aspects of 5G, including: network architecture; a new air interface between devices and base stations; ‘network slicing’ - which will allow operators to apportion network resources to specific services; machine-to-machine communications in Internet of Things (IoT) applications; and security technologies.

Gavin Patterson, CEO of BT said: “We are determined to maximise the potential of 5G for our 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.

“Huawei and BT have a strong record of collaboration when it comes to developing cutting-edge communications technologies, and we’re pleased to be building on that relationship to pioneer tomorrow’s mobile services.”

Ken Hu, Deputy Chairman of the Board and rotating CEO at Huawei said: “We are very proud of our work with BT over the last eleven years. We have conducted joint research and development activities which have led to new products and solutions and with 5G we look forward to continuing this fruitful partnership. Together we can explore the potential of 5G networks and analyze how this vital technology can best be delivered. The partnership also demonstrates Huawei’s continued commitment to partnering with world-leading business and academic organizations in the UK to further research and development. We have operated in the UK for fifteen years and we look forward to continuing to help build a better connected UK in partnership with BT.”

Wireless networks are changing the way people communicate and access information with mobile access networks that enable connections anytime and anywhere transforming the telecoms industry. It is predicted that 5G technology will allow flexible, reliable, and secure wireless networks to connect people with all applications, services, and things.

The 5G research programme will build on a number of successful collaborations between BT and Huawei. Most recently, the two companies announced world-leading trials of a 3Tbps data transfer over BT’s core network, as well as pioneering research into 40Gbps speeds in the Openreach access network.