Ericsson and Intel have announced the launch of the 5G Innovators Initiative. The initiative will aim to together technology companies and academics to explore, test and innovate with 5G networking and distributed edge technologies in the US.
The first industry segment to be explored will be the industrial IoT, and the first participants to join besides the founders are Honeywell, GE and the University of California Berkeley.
Nokia and Intel have separately revealed they are establishing 5G acceleration labs in the US and Finland. The labs will aim to develop 5G solutions based on all aspects of 5G – from the network to the cloud to the client - in a 'live' environment.
The companies will leverage technologies including Nokia's AirScale and AirFrame technologies and Intel's 5G connectivity solutions, including its 5G Mobile Trial Platform.
Qualcomm announced it has completed its first 5G connection based on the 3GPP's pre-standard 5G new radio specifications. The connection was completed using Qualcomm's sub 6-GHz 5G NR prototype system, which is capable of operating on frequencies between 3.3-GHz and 5-GHz.
The company plans to demonstrate the prototype system at Mobile World Congress next week, and plans to utilize the prototype for over-the-air 5G NR trials and interoperability testing starting in the second half of the year.