Europe and S. Korea Team Up in 5G

In an effort to provide the European continent with faster mobile internet in the near future the European Commission (EC) strikes a "strategic cooperation" deal with S. Korea to share 5G research and resources.

S. Korea EUThe agreement, or "Joint Declaration on Strategic Cooperation in Information Communications Technology (ICT) and 5G," covers the development of so-called "Net Futures" (5G, network and communications and cloud) and includes the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the EU's 5G Infrastructure Association and S. Korea's 5G Forum.

It follows a November 2013 collaboration agreement, and will eventually see the launch of jointly funded R&D programs during 2016-2017.

The 5G Infrastructure Association counts Alcatel-Lucent, Atos, Deutsche Telekom, Ericsson, Nokia, Orange, Telecom Italia, Telenor and Telefonica as members.

“5G will become the new lifeblood of the digital economy and digital society once it is established. Both Europe and Korea recognise this,” EC digital chief Nieelie Kroes says. “This is the first time ever that public authorities have joined together in this way, with the support of private industry, to push forward the process of standardisation.”

The 5G agreement is of course part of a European effort to avoid the roaming issues faced in the race to implement LTE and 4G. December 2013 saw the EU launch a 5G Infrastructure PPP (5G PPP), part of the €6.2 billion "Horizon 2020" EU research programme with €700 million slated for 5G.

Go Landmark Agreement Between EC and S. Korea on 5G Mobile Technology