5G Americas and the 5G Forum Announce Memorandum of Understanding

BELLEVUE, WA and SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA--(Marketwired - February 16, 2017) - 5G Americas, a trade association that is the voice of 5G and LTE for the Americas and the 5G Forum Korea, a group that aims to become the leading force in the development of next-generation communications technology announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) today for cooperation in next-generation (5G) mobile communications.

Chris Pearson, President of 5G Americas stated, "To reach the objectives of 5G technology, the industry should continue to invest in mutually beneficial partnerships that will in turn enable further innovation for the large and diverse mobile wireless ecosystem."

The MOU, signed by Chris Pearson, President of 5G Americas and Professor Youngnam Han, Executive Committee Chairman of the 5G Forum outlines ways the organizations can collaborate on 5G. The MoU specifically highlights many areas of possible cooperation affecting the next generation mobile network ecosystem including spectrum requirements, technology analysis and global standardization trends.

5G Americas and the 5G Forum each have independent 5G work programs that will continue to contribute on their own to the global development of Next Generation Mobile Networks. The 5G standard is principally being developed at the Third-Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) with the initial phase, named Release 15, expected to be completed by June of 2018 and the second phase, named Release 16, expected to be completed by December of 2019. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) will review and evaluate 5G standards under their IMT-2020 process.

Youngnam Han, Executive Committee Chairman of 5G Forum, commented, "Cooperation between leading 5G wireless organizations throughout the world is vital to the success of the next generation mobile ecosystem that the industry envisions. The 5G Forum looks forward to working with 5G Americas."

The two organizations are currently under an MOU with three other global associations in the creation of a bi-annual "Global 5G Event" that includes 5G-PPP in the European Union, 5GMF in Japan and IMT-2020 in China. The event was initially hosted in Beijing by IMT-2020 in June 2016 with the second event in Rome hosted by 5G PPP in November 2016; the 2017 event will be hosted on May 24 and 25 by 5GMF in Japan. The Global 5G Event is a further opportunity to collaborate and educate global leaders regarding the status of the development and trials for 5G.

About 5G Americas: The Voice of 5G and LTE for the Americas

5G Americas is an industry trade organization composed of leading telecommunications service providers and manufacturers. The organization's mission is to advocate for and foster the advancement and full capabilities of LTE wireless technology and its evolution beyond to 5G, throughout the ecosystem's networks, services, applications and wirelessly connected devices in the Americas. 5G Americas is invested in developing a connected wireless community while leading 5G development for all the Americas. 5G Americas is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington. More information is available at www.5gamericas.org.

Follow our news on Twitter at @5GAmericas and Facebook at www.facebook.com/5gamericas.

5G Americas' Board of Governors members include: América Móvil, AT&T, Cable & Wireless, Cisco, CommScope, Entel, Ericsson, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), Intel, Kathrein, Mitel, Nokia, Qualcomm, Sprint, T-Mobile US, Inc. and Telefónica.

About the 5G Forum

5G Forum, which was established on May 2013 in Korea, is a non-profit organization with the aim of globally leading and promoting 5G toward the year 2020. The scope/objectives of the 5G Forum are to develop vision and service, to study spectrum aspects, to identify potential technologies, to collaborate for global harmonization and to bridge between industries and government. 5G Forum provides a public partnership platform for the promotion of 5G mobile communication with members from wireless industries, research institutes, and academia including global companies and organizations. More information is available at www.5gforum.org/eng.

Currently, the 5G Forum consists of Board Members: SK Telecom, KT, LG U+, Samsung, LG Electronics, Ericsson-LG, LIMEI, KMW, ETRI (Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute). Other 5G Forum members include: GiGA Korea Foundation, Ace Technology, Anritsu, Contela, Daejeon TechnoPark, GERi (Gumi Electronics & Information Technology Research Institute), GSI, Huawei, Innowireless, Intel, InterDigitalL, Keysight Technologies, KTL (Korea Testing Laboratory), Daegu TechnoPark, National Instruments, Nokia, Qualcomm, Rohde & Schwarz, Samhwa Yangheng, WILUS (Wilus Institute of Standards & Technology), U-Tel and CEST (Center for Embedded Software Technology).