EC’s Neelie Kroes signs ‘landmark’ 5G cooperation deal with South Korea

European Commission (EC) vice president responsible for the Digital Agenda for Europe, Neelie Kroes, has signed off on what is being termed a ‘landmark’ 5G cooperation deal with South Korea, in an attempt to formalise global standards for the next generation technology platform and guarantee cross-border radio frequency harmonisation. FierceWirelessEurope reports that Ms Kroes and Mun-Kee Choi, South Korea’s minister of science, ICT and future planning, inked the ICT cooperation agreement this week with the goal of defining the parameters of ‘5G’ by the end of 2015. Europe and South Korea intend to provide joint funding and R&D on the advanced wireless technology over the next two years. Marking the joint agreement milestone, Ms Kroes said that this is the ‘first time ever that public authorities have joined together in this way, with the support of private industry, to push forward the process of standardisation.’