Deutsche Telekom (DT), in cooperation with research companies, start-ups and “established” network vendors, is to develop a 5G innovation lab dubbed ‘5G:haus’.

“5G:haus will allow us, in cooperation with leading partners, to develop the architecture, to foster innovation and to steer standardisation work,” Bruno Jacobfeuerborn, DT’s CTO, said. “The lab will also provide a platform to engage with our customers at a very early stage of 5G development.”

DT said it would use its European footprint to “build up the lab” and so be able to showcase in different locations.

The German incumbent listed Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung, ZTE, Qualcomm and Huawei among its vendor partners.

“We look forward to engaging with our listed partners and are open to welcoming more of them in the near future,” said Jacobfeuerborn.

At this year’s Mobile World Congress, the NGMN Alliance – of which Jacobfeuerborn is chairman – published a 5G White Paper, purporting to represent the view of its 24 operator members.

“The publication was an important first step in the overall 5G development process,” said Jacobfeuerborn. “The industry must now work together to deliver a global communications standard and related products that allow first commercial deployments by 2020.”