Cisco and NEC drive global 5G connectivity

Cisco and NEC Corporation are advancing their partnership to deliver 5G connectivity and automation across the globe. 

The expanded collaboration sees new system integration solutions and potential opportunities in 5G xHaul and private 5G to help customers “transform their architecture and connect more people and things”.

Under the Global Systems Integrator Agreement (GSIA) – jointly signed by Cisco and NEC two years ago – both parties intend to introduce augmented solutions for scalable 5G xHaul transport networks, such as enhanced capabilities for end-to-end automation and routed optical networking to support the “monetisation” of 5G by operators.

Critically, the partnership aims to meet the pace of increasing traffic surges, demand for faster time to market with assured quality, and the need to innovate from transport to the edge.

“The needs for modernised architecture in 5G have steadily enhanced our partnership with Cisco, leading us to this next level of partnership,” said Hideyuki Ogata, general manager of NEC’s service provider solutions department.

“The industry-leading solutions from Cisco and our ecosystem partners, combined with our world-class network integration capabilities, enable us to deliver compelling solutions to multiple operators and verticals across the world.”

Supported by Cisco, NEC is also seeking to overcome the complexity of multi-vendor networks and will tap on its 5G Transport Centres of Excellence in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Latin America (LATAM) to navigate customers’ end-to-end network lifecycle and optimisation in a phased approach.

“Partnering with world-class technology leaders is essential to reaching the future of connectivity that we know is possible,” added Sanjay Kaul, president of Cisco’s service provider business across Asia Pacific and Japan. 

“That is why our partnership with NEC is so special. Our multi-level collaboration has enabled some of the largest IP Networks in the world using breakthrough architectures that change economics with routed optical networking, virtual routing, and 5G radio interoperability.”

In addition to transport xHaul networks, the two companies plan to work together in areas of IoT, 5G, and Wi-Fi.

Through Cisco's Country Digital Acceleration program, work is in progress to qualify NEC's new UNIVERGE RV 1200 radio with Cisco's private 5G solution at Cisco's 5G Showcase in Tokyo.

According to NEC, the radio is designed and developed for the Japanese private 5G market, with one of its touted benefits being an “all-in-one” product with “RU/CU/DU in a single unit”.

“We are pleased to add private 5G for business to our long-standing strategic partnership between Cisco and NEC,” said Suhun Yun, managing director of the digital network business division at NEC. 

“We look forward to the expansion of the partnership between the two companies, which will help accelerate private 5G market expansion and further efforts to address social issues.”