Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) mobile subsidiary Mobitel has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, to work together in the research and development of 5G technology, Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and more. Under the MoU, the two parties intend to share their respective areas of expertise and knowledge towards the common goal for collaborative R&D, they say.
As previously reported by CommsUpdate, last month Mobitel completed a demonstration of fifth-generation technology at the grand opening of the Ancient Technology Museum in Polonnaruwa, having earlier conducted a series of 5G trials using a commercially available 5G-equipped smartphone in June; those trials achieved data speeds in excess of 1.55Gbps.
The SLT-controlled operator plans to spend upwards of USD50 million in 2019 to deploy a 5G network and to further develop its existing infrastructure.