Samsung will supply Japan’s second-largest mobile carrier, KDDI, with 5G network equipment. According to a Samsung official cited by The Korea Times, the company “[…] won a contract to supply its 5G network equipment to KDDI,” however, the value of the contract was not disclosed.
KDDI and Samsung have been testing 5G equipment over the past few years. In 2018 the companies showcased the power of 5G by successfully conducting a real-time free-viewpoint video stream test. Therefore, KDDI’s decision to acquire 5G network equipment from Samsung isn’t unexpected, especially since Huawei was banned from official contracts last year by the Japanese government.
Nevertheless, Samsung will not be the only company responsible for building KDDI’s 5G infrastructure. The Korean tech giant will work alongside Ericsson and Nokia to complete the contract over the next five years.
2020 is the year of 5G
Japan is reportedly making a greater effort towards implementing 5G before the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Meanwhile, Samsung aims to secure 20 percent of the global network equipment market by 2020, and the contract with KDDI brings the company one step closer to its goal. Samsung is, of course, an official Worldwide Olympic Partner and is bound to sponsor the 2020 Tokyo Olympics despite the trade tensions between Japan and South Korea.
Samsung Mobile is one of the few OEMs to offer 5G-capable smartphones and has already unveiled its first 5G integrated chipset, the Exynos 980. It’s going to enter mass production by the end of the year and could power devices from the Galaxy A (2020) series.
