Japan's NTT Docomo has entered an agreement with NEC covering the supply of control units for 5G base station equipment to help commercialize 5G services.
NEC plans to develop technology to enable existing telecoms equipment such as high density base station equipment to be fully compatible with 5G. Docomo plans to leverage this technology to meet its goal of launching 5G services in 2020.
Under the agreement, NEC will achieve 5G compatibility through software upgrades and a minimal replacement of hardware to maximize the use of existing high-density base station equipment, using the base station technology NEC first launched in February 2015.
The upgrade will allow Docomo to continue providing LTE and LTE-Advanced services even after the equipment is upgraded to be made compatible with 5G.
“Docomo aims to deploy and expand our commercial 5G services efficiently by maximizing the use of existing communications equipment," NTT Docomo CTO and board member Hiroshi Nakamura said.
"This agreement with NEC is in line with that policy and we expect it to make a significant contribution to our 5G services. Going forward, Docomo accelerates co-creation of new services and businesses with vertical industry partners."
The operator has separately announced that its board of directors has proposed a number of changes in executive positions for approval at next month's shareholders meeting aimed at further developing the company.
Among the proposed changes include the appointment of five senior executives to the board, the hiring of a new executive vice president, and the promotion of four candidates to senior vice president.