Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) and Altice Labs, the innovation center for Altice Group, today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), an initiative that will see the two companies focusing on understanding use cases for 5G, as well as conducting joint research and development, through field-tests of 5G technologies, products and services.

The partnership includes the setup of a 5G Lab in Aveiro, Portugal, where Altice Labs is headquartered. The lab will undertake activities of research and development, and to conduct proof-of-concepts, trials and demonstrations.

One of the main goals of this collaboration is to jointly define the requirements and deployment scenarios for 5G wireless systems and 5G ready core based on a virtualized network architecture.

Altice Labs is the center of innovation for the Altice Group, with 200 million people in more than 35 countries benefiting from solutions made in Portugal. It is built upon 66 years of technological experience in telecoms, a valuable heritage from PT Inovação.

Paulo Neves, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors of PT Portugal, a brand of Altice group, says: “We believe that an ecosystem of strong partnerships is what makes the difference in the technological world. PT has a long term relation with Ericsson. Together, sharing the same commitment, we have set trends and developed state of art solutions. This research collaboration on the road to 5G reinforces this spirit with the goal of being always one step ahead, providing our clients the best solutions and products”.

Nunzio Mirtillo, Head of Ericsson, Region Mediterranean, says: “Ericsson has achieved encouraging progress in 5G standardization in 2016, with industry use cases, and live field trials. With commercial implementation expected from 2020, Ericsson's 5G research is increasingly focusing on collaboration with our operator and industry partners, bringing research into the live test networks which give us valuable insights. We trust this collaboration with Altice Labs will lay the foundation for a joint development and acceleration of the journey towards 5G”.

5G had a fantastic evolution during 2016 with achievements in standardization, industry use cases, live field trials and big efforts in R&D plus industry-wide collaborations. 2017 has been described as a defining year for 5G.

5G subscription uptake will commence in 2020 and is expected to be faster than for 4G. The development of 5G is being driven by new use cases that will impact both consumers and industries. New applications and use cases anticipated for 5G include safe, self-driving cars, remote controlled robots, haptic feedback-enabled drones and fixed wireless access - rivalling fiber capacity - for residential homes.

Ericsson is driving 5G in the industry with unmatched experience from four generations of mobile networks, the strongest global 5G ecosystem, engagement in standards around the world, and technology leadership in all 5G domains.

Ericsson at Mobile World Congress 2017

Anything can happen on the digital frontier, a promising but undiscovered future. From February 27 to March 2 in Barcelona, Spain, Ericsson is demonstrating a collaborative approach and innovative solutions to succeed in this arena.

With our customers and partners, we work across industries, physical boundaries and perceived limitations. Join us in Hall 2 or online during MWC 2017 and engage in conversations and demonstrations about our favorite things: 5G; platforms and services for IT, Cloud, Networks and TV & Media; connected solutions for industries; the Internet of Things; and partnering for success.

See you there!