Samsung Electronics today announced that it reached a new agreement with Japanese telecom operator KDDI for the commercialization of 5G network solutions to enterprises. Samsung and KDDI will create a joint 5G-centric business designed to prepare enterprises for the 5G era and help them develop new business models that can leverage the new technology.
KDDI will offer its network management services to business customers who can then decide whether to use KDDI's existing network infrastructure or create their own 5G private network. Samsung and KDDI have been long-time partners in the development of 5G networks in Japan and the telecom operator's existing 5G infrastructure is already powered by Samsung technologies.
As for private networks, Samsung's recent announcement on the matter makes no mention of the Link Cell mmWave indoor cell-station that was revealed last month but it sounds a lot like these optional 5G private networks offered by KDDI and Samsung to enterprise customers in Japan are powered by the same technology.
Samsung's Link Cell indoor cell-stations were first adopted by Verizon in mid-September and they are being offered for enterprise customers in the USA who are looking for ways to increase indoor coverage or want to create their own enterprise-grade private networks. Time will tell where Link Cell technology will be available next after the USA and Japan but regardless, Samsung's 5G push is seemingly unrelenting.