Huawei to open its world’s first 5G open lab in Seoul in May

The world’s largest telecommunications equipment maker Huawei Technologies Co. will launch a 5G Open Lab in Seoul next month, its first 5G service development center that will serve as an Asian hub for its 5G business expansion.
 
According to the IT industry sources on Sunday, the China’s biggest smartphone vendor will open its 5G Open Lab around mid-May in Seoul to support 5G technology and service development for Korean companies and consumers.
 
It picked Seoul to establish its first global 5G research and development center because Korea is the world’s first country to commercialize 5G connectivity, the company said. The Chinese telecommunication equipment giant announced early this year that it will set up 5G open labs in its important business hubs around the world in Europe, the Middle East and Asia within this year.
 
“After the commercialization of 5G services in Korea in April 3, telecommunications landscape has been rapidly changing in the country, especially in the central Seoul,” according to an official from Huawei. The company advanced the opening schedule of its 5G service center in Korea as it has been leading the global 5G ecosystem, the official added. It has not opened a similar center at home yet.
 
Huawei’s open lab will provide end-to-end assistance for businesses both large and small from telecom equipment testing to components and device development. It will also offer a test bed for global firms including Asian wireless carriers seeking to launch 5G services in their own countries.
 
Huawei’s rotating chairman Guo Ping told Korean reporters last week in Guangdong Province that Korean companies leading the global 5G industry are important partners of Huawei, and added that the company has so far received $10.6 billion worth supplies from not only large Korean firms including Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix but also small companies.

---