NEC Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co. will tie up in the development and global marketing of next-generation telecommunication base stations for mobile phone carriers.
The Japanese and South Korean companies are initially focusing on the U.S. and Japanese market, with Samsung hoping to sell its products for the fifth-generation mobile network to NTT Docomo Inc. and NEC launching its base station business outside Japan for the first time, according to the sources.
They are considering supplying their products to each other, the sources said. Samsung already sells high-frequency base stations in the U.S. market where 5G services started this year. NEC will likely develop low-frequency base stations, the sources said.
Their plan to expand the network equipment business globally comes after U.S. regulators proposed a ban on network operators' purchase of equipment from companies receiving government funding, a move seen as an attempt to block Chinese manufacturers from selling 5G equipment in the country.
U.S. lawmakers have voiced concerns about using Chinese network products which they say could open a path for espionage and intellectual property theft in the United States.
Source: http://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20181021/p2g/00m/0bu/028000c