Japan’s leading mobile operator NTT DOCOMO this week announced it has joined the 5G Alliance for Connected Industries and Automation (5G-ACIA) with the aim of further advancing the use of 5G technology in the manufacturing sector.
5G-ACIA is a major global initiative encompassing some 50 companies from diverse industries around the world, including the telecommunication and manufacturing sectors.
Participants plan to collaborate in the creation of industrial 5G networks and achieve the reliability and low latency required in factory automation and for manufacturing processes. They are additionally conducting research into the more effective use of public networks and publishing white papers on various aspects of the technology.
"We have been collaborating with many partners in the manufacturing sector to co-create 5G services through activities such as the 'DOCOMO 5G Open Partner Program' and 'DOCOMO 5G Open Lab',” said Dr. Hiroshi Nakamura, executive vice president and CTO at NTT DOCOMO in a statement. “We are looking forward to collaborating with 5G-ACIA to accelerate the expansion of the 5G global ecosystem in this industry sector."
DOCOMO has partnered with a variety of enterprises around the world and is conducting various trials of 5G-related technologies. The company is proposing to these partners a new approach to the building of 5G networks, customised to specific use-cases and requirements and addressing the partners' need for stable, low-latency, instant communication.
5G-ACIA expressed its delight in welcoming its 55th member, pointing out that 5G for Industrial IoT (IIoT) has gained a huge momentum since the alliance was established in April 2018.
"It [5G for IIoT] has the potential to unlock huge economic opportunities in industrial production by enabling unprecedented degrees of flexibility, productivity and usability. By the same token, manufacturing is clearly one of the most attractive new fields of application for 5G." said 5G-ACIA chairman Dr. Andreas Müller of Robert Bosch.
"Thanks to its deep technical expertise, its strong involvement in standardisation and innovation activities plus its large customer base, NTT DOCOMO's participation in 5G-ACIA is certain to help to ensure that industrial 5G is a major success and to increase 5G-ACIA's footprint in the Japanese market,” Müller said.
