Both companies will develop cooperative 5G and IIoT projects and carry out research activities
Chinese vendor ZTE Corporation and compatriot mobile operator China Unicom have inked a strategic cooperation agreement on joint 5G and industrial internet of things (IIoT) innovation.
Under the terms of the strategic agreement, both companies will collaborate in the fields of 5G and IIoT to foster a sound ecosystem and promote the sustainable development of the industry. China Unicom and ZTE will work together to develop cooperative projects and conduct research on application scenarios, product demands, service applications, market development and other related fields.
“The two companies will also look at possible future directions of 5G and IoT, and aim to achieve research results that meet the network development and evolution requirements for new business models, laying a solid foundation for long-term technical cooperation and a mutually beneficial results for both parties,” ZTE said in a statement.
In the 5G field, both China Unicom and ZTE focus on research and investment in 5G network architecture, mobile-edge computing (MEC), cross-layer optimization, bearer and other key 5G technologies to promote 5G development strategies and standardization.
Meanwhile, in the IIoT field, both companies will conduct research and experimental verification of key IoT technologies and implement research and development of service solutions and products to promote technological development and industrial cooperation.
ZTE’s CTO Xu Huijun said that 5G and IIoT are core strategies for ZTE and that the company will work with China Unicom to strengthen the research in 5G, IoT and future new technologies. The two firms will jointly promote the industrialization process, network development and technological research to help China Unicom enter the era of 5G and IoT, the executive added.
China Unicom said it ended the second quarter of the year with a 260.7 million subscribers, including 49.4 million LTE subscribers. During the second quarter, China Unicom added 1.77 million mobile customers.
