Deutsche Telekom has launched a new innovation lab which will operate in various locations across Europe working towards the development and standardisation of 5G technology.
DT explained that 5G:haus will work with a “broad range” of partners across Europe simultaneously, including research companies, startups and equipment vendors. The operator claimed this approach would allow it to make use of the diverse strengths of individual partners and develop 5G “from a holistic, customer-oriented perspective”.
The operator said the approach would also allow the lab to showcase its work at various locations across the continent.
Bruno Jacobfeuerborn, CTO of DT and Chairman of the NGMN Alliance Board, said: “The 5G:haus will allow us, in cooperation with leading partners, to develop the architecture, to foster innovation and to steer standardisation work. The lab will also provide a platform to engage with our customers at a very early stage of 5G development.”
Named partners for 5G:haus include Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung, ZTE, Qualcomm and Huawei, as well as the SoftRAN Initiative at Stanford University, German AI research centre DFKI and the University of Kaiserslautern.
Jacobfeuerborn said: “With the 5G:haus, we will be able to assess candidate technologies and will make consistent contributions to the process of developing a global 5G standard. We look forward to engaging with our listed partners and are open to welcoming more of them in the near future.”
The news follows the publication of the NGMN’s finalised 5G whitepaper at this year’s Mobile World Congress, which presents a overview of end-to-end operator requirements for the future development of the technology.
DT today claimed the whitepaper would allow the telco industry to push on with the development of “uniform” standards for 5G. Jacobfeuerborn said: “The publication was an important first step in the overall 5G development process. The industry must now work together to deliver a global communications standard and related products that allow first commercial deployments by 2020.”
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