Ericsson entered into a collaborative agreement for ICT research with South Korea's SK Holdings, the parent company of SK Telecom.
The pair said that they will work together initially on researching Internet of Things (IoT) platforms, emerging ICT services and convergence security solutions.
Hans Vestberg, president and CEO, Ericsson, and Park Jung-Ho, CEO of SK Holdings, signed the memorandum of understanding (MoU), which will see Ericsson and SK Holdings jointly develop specialised IoT platforms for industry sectors including health care and transportation.
The research will utilise Ericsson's experience in delivering IoT projects, including Volvo Cars' Connected Vehicle Cloud and connected container-tracking systems for shipping company Maersk Line, Ericsson said.
Also, the companies will explore opportunities relating to emerging ICT services, such as global disaster recovery and IoT authentication in the Asia Pacific area.
Additionally, the MoU covers collaboration in the field of convergence security solutions, which are increasingly critical components in industry-grade IoT ecosystems, the companies said. Ericsson said it will combine its network security technology with the data security capabilities of SK Holdings' Infosec unit for convergence security services for global customers.
Park commented the agreement will allow SK Holdings to "enhance ICT competitiveness and strengthen our presence in global markets by forging partnerships with leading global companies in the areas of IoT, cloud networks and Big Data".
He added that the MoU will see the companies "create a strong collaborative ecosystem with global ICT and solution companies for our global target markets and target industries."
SK Telecom is also working in collaboration with Nokia Networks for future technologies: the operator announced recently that it has opened a 5G research and development centre at the Finnish equipment manufacturer's South Korean office.
The two companies, which are striving to be at the forefront of 5G technology development, said the new centre would enable researchers from both companies to study and develop core 5G technologies, including gigabit-level data transmission technology and cloud-based virtualised base stations.
For more:
- see this Ericsson release
Related articles:
SK Telecom, Nokia Networks open 5G R&D centre in South Korea
ITU outlines 5G roadmap towards 'IMT-2020'
du aims to pilot 5G services from 2018, launch commercial services in 2020
Is Turkey about to gamble with its mobile broadband future?
Ofcom identifies 'preliminary set of bands' above 6 GHz for 5G