5G Focus is a weekly global feature including notable 5G trials, launches, use cases and major equipment supply contracts. It also features in-depth analysis of strategies, expansion plans, business models and other related initiatives.
US AND CANADA
* Nokia Oyj signed a multiyear 5G network expansion deal with United States Cellular Corp. to deploy Nokia's AirScale portfolio in U.S. Cellular's C-band and 3.45 GHz mid-band spectrum to improve 5G network capacity, speed and coverage.
* U.S. Cellular also tapped Ericsson to deploy its C-band and 3.45 GHz spectrum to improve fixed wireless access.
* Verizon Communications Inc. and Amazon Web Services Inc. expanded coverage for their AWS Wavelength mobile edge computing partnership to include Nashville, Tenn., and Tampa, Fla., among its 19 service areas. AWS Wavelength embeds AWS compute and storage services at Verizon's 5G edge to enable latency-sensitive applications.
* TDK Ventures Inc., the investment unit of Japan-based electronics company TDK Corp., invested an undisclosed amount in XCOM Labs Inc. to help the startup in accelerating the development of its 5G and wireless communications products.
* Canada's TELUS Corp. will invest C$11 billion in network infrastructure, operations and spectrum across Quebec over the next four years, or until 2026. The total amount includes an C$8 million private investment in the province's North Shore region in 2022, which the communications technology company will spend on deploying its PureFibre and 5G networks in the Innu community of Ekuanitshit and the municipalities of Longue-Pointe-de-Mingan and Port-Menier.
* T-Mobile US Inc. is working with Dell Technologies Inc., Ericsson and Nokia to offer 5G Advanced Network Solutions. The new offering is a suite of managed network solutions leveraging T-Mobile's 5G spectrum and equipment from partner companies.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* CMMB Vision Holdings Ltd., an investment holding company primarily focused on convergent mobile multimedia broadcasting, is acquiring a 51% stake in Hong Kong-based artificial intelligence and internet-of-things company IITH from its controlling shareholder, Chi Capital Holdings Ltd. for HK$1. CMMB Vision expects the acquisition to boost its efforts to develop satellite-internet 5G infrastructure with core AI and big-data capabilities.
* Nokia struck a 5G coverage expansion deal with Taiwan Mobile Co. Ltd. to improve the operator's 5G coverage across Taiwan using Nokia's AirScale portfolio.
* The head of China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Xiao Yaqing, encouraged companies at an industry conference to accelerate the development of digital infrastructure, including 5G base stations and fiber-optic networks, Dow Jones Newswires reported.
* China-based IoT services provider Quectel Wireless Solutions Co. Ltd. is working to integrate its 5G IoT modules with chipmaker NVIDIA Corp.s AI edge-computing platform NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin. The move will enable "high-speed, reliable and low-latency" 5G capabilities for devices based on the Jetson platform.
EUROPE, MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* Live-video technology provider Vislink Technologies Inc. supplied private-network 5G technology to BT Sport's live coverage of a Gallagher Premiership Rugby match at the StoneX Stadium in London. The move is part of a British Telecom-led project to demonstrate the potential use of 5G in broadcasting, which involved connecting matchday cameras to a stand-alone private 5G network.
* Vodafone GmbH launched the next expansion stage for its mobile network in Germany's Lake Constance. The Vodafone Group PLC unit also started operations for the first mobile stations with 5G+ technology in Deggenhausertal and Salem in Germany.
* In other Vodafone GmbH news, the telco strengthened its mobile network by implementing almost 500 Long Term Evolution and 5G construction projects on mobile communications masts along rail lines.
* The Norwegian Communications Authority said 13.2 billion Norwegian kroner was invested in electronic communications networks and services in Norway in 2021, with almost 3.6 billion kroner related to mobile networks and 5G development.
* Lithuania's Communications Regulatory Authority, or RRT, launched an auction of 5G mobile frequencies in the 700 MHz band, CommsUpdate reported. The auction's winning bidders would be required to roll out commercial 5G services in at least one of the country's five biggest cities, including the capital city of Vilnius, within six months and to all five by Dec. 31, 2023.
* Telia Co. AB's Norwegian unit Telia Norge AS entered into a strategic cooperation agreement with industrial park Herøya Industripark to build a test arena for 5G, private mobile networks and advanced connectivity.
* Software and services provider Amdocs Ltd. agreed to acquire U.K.-based company MYCOM OSI, which provides cloud network and 5G service assurance applications to customers with 5G networks, as well as those service wireline operator networks.
* Ericsson partnered with Deutsche Telekom AG to drive sustainable 5G radio site operations by using renewable energy.
* Hutchison 3G UK Ltd., or Three UK, said its 5G network reaches over 54% of Britain's population, covering over 400 locations in over 3,000 sites.
* Saudi Telecom Co. unit stc Bahrain launched a stand-alone 5G network, in partnership with China's Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.
Featured research
Global Multichannel: Global markets update — Iraq: In June 2021, cellco Zain Iraq, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia-based Mobile Telecommunications Co. KSCP, launched a virtual 5G-ready mobile network, branded Oodi.
Technology: 2021 smartphone shipments rose 5.2% against the backdrop of a chip shortage: While 5G is expected to help revitalize growth in the market, which has seen shrinking shipments and revenue since 2018, future advancements will likely keep even saturated markets from hitting a dead end.
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