Singtel, Ericsson to establish 5G CoE

Singtel and Ericsson have announced plans to jointly establish Singapore’s first 5G Center of Excellence to spearhead Singapore’s evolution to 5G.

The center will receive co-funding from both Singtel and Ericsson, with the companies committing an initial $2 million investment for the next three years.

It will seek to train 100 Singtel engineers in the critical competencies involved in designing and operating a 5G network, with Ericsson conducting workshops, field testing and providing hands-on experience.

The center will also be open to Singapore’s wholly-owned Australian subsidiary Optus as well as its network of minority-owned regional mobile associates in Asia and Africa.

“This is a critical next step in our journey to 5G. We’re pleased to partner Ericsson to enhance our 5G core competencies and create a robust 5G ecosystem that will allow Singtel and our enterprise customers to benefit from the anticipated growth opportunities 5G will bring,” Singtel group CTO Mark Chong said.

“We invite customers in various verticals, such as transportation, port operations and next-generation manufacturing, to start shaping their new digital business models with us.”

Singtel also plans to conduct 5G demos from its Comcentre headquarters to showcase potential future 5G applications such as immersive augmented reality experiences, haptic feedback for surgical operations and remote medical training.

Next year Singtel also plans to deploy a 5G test bed to allow it to conduct live 5G field trials with enterprise customers, and engage research and tertiary institutions on potential collaborations to test 5G radios and use cases.