Deutsche Telekom and SK Telecom formed a joint venture to develop in-building 5G systems. Once the companies crack the code for in-building 5G propagation, they intend to create new services and technology in mixed reality, mobile edge computing, and applications.

The joint venture, which is evenly split between Germany’s Deutsche Telekom and South Korea’s SK Telecom, will initially focus on opportunities in Europe, the companies said. 

Many operators and vendors are increasingly shifting their attention to small cells and distributed antenna systems (DAS) for in-building 5G coverage. Pushing the coverage of radio access networks (RAN) deeper into congested public spaces, offices, venues, and transportation hubs is widely viewed as a crucial component of 5G. Without it, the enterprise opportunity in particular is effectively moot. 

SK Telecom and Deutsche Telekom argue that “there are not yet strong players dominating the market for 5G repeaters,” and thus the need and opportunity for the joint venture to develop new systems and technical frameworks. 

The operators said they recently completed a trial that involved 5G/4G LTE dual-mode repeaters in eight German cities that delivered  improved in-building coverage for voice and data services. The test device, which SK Telecom (SKT) contributed to the effort, is now expected to result in the commercial development of an advanced 5G/4G LTE dual-mode repeaters, the companies claimed. 

“Together with SKT we are able to develop new and innovative products which enhance customer experience. The first feedback from a repeater customer trial has shown the value of our partnership — for us, but more importantly, for our customers,” Tim Höttges, CEO at Deutsche Telekom, said in a statement. “We will start with the repeater, but this joint venture is aiming at a much higher goal. That goal is to create major innovations for both companies in the years to come." 

The trial was conducted across multiple locations in the German cities of Berlin, Bonn, Cologne, Darmstadt, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Leipzig, and Munich, between August and October 2020.

Park Jung-ho, CEO at SK Telecom, said the partnership is “very meaningful at a time when the world is heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.” 

The highly infectious disease is surging, hitting an all-time high of daily cases globally and in many of the most impacted countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) officially designated the outbreak as a global pandemic almost eight months ago, and although the daily rate of infection leveled off during the summer it began surging again near the end of September. 

Total global cases stand at almost 50.6 million and 1,258,817 people have died as a result of COVID-19 thus far, according to the latest figures from Johns Hopkins University. The U.S. still leads the world in the number of infections as it approaches 10 million cumulative cases and a total death count of 237,619. It surpassed 100,000 daily infections for the first time last week.

SK Telecom’s home country of South Korea, which has a population of 51.6 million, has tallied 27,553 total infections and 480 deaths to date. Deutsche Telekom’s home country of Germany, a country with a population of 83 million, has reported 685,721 cases of infection and 11,385 deaths.

The creation of the joint venture is subject to regulatory approval but the operators expect the deal to close before the end of the year. The companies also said they will each name a representative to lead the new entity soon. 

“The deepened bond between the two companies will play an important role as a bridge between Asia and Europe, and lead us to new technologies that can bring greater value to humanity,” Park at SK Telecom said in a statement.