Istanbul, Turkey - Nokia and Türk Telekom have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to accelerate the development of 5G radio access network technology and the applications that will drive the Internet of Things. Türk Telekom will make its network infrastructure available to Nokia for real-time testing to accelerate the introduction of 5G in Turkey.

5G technology will move beyond simple connectivity to transform networks, delivering massive capacity, connectivity and ultra-fast data speeds - with almost zero latency - to meet the demands of billions of devices, applications and things in the 'programmable world'. With Network Slicing, a 5G network can be tailored to the diverse needs of different industries, enabling the large-scale transformation of sectors such as healthcare, security, automotive, public safety, industrial manufacturing, smart cities and more.

The companies will work together on testing 5G and Internet of Things technologies for tracking, metering, smart cities, smart home and latency-sensitive applications. They will then use their findings to develop 5G-ready solutions that will allow Türk Telekom to evolve its network and be ready for the eventual introduction of commercial 5G services.

In a crucial step towards 5G, Nokia is currently deploying 4G LTE-Advanced technology for Türk Telekom, and the operator has already launched LTE-A services in Turkey. Furthermore, Nokia has been a longstanding provider to Türk Telekom of customer care and analytics-driven solutions from its Motive portfolio, underpinning the operator's network with advanced technology to ensure the optimum customer experience.

The new MoU will see the companies focusing on the development of a cloud architecture for radio and core network technology that can support Network Slicing in particular.

Rami Aslan, CEO at Türk Telekom, said: "We intend to be a pioneer in the deployment of technologies that differentiate our customer services. Working with Nokia, we have already launched 4G LTE-Advanced in Turkey, and the development of 5G technology will allow us to drive digital revolution, changing the way of life for our customers and growing the economy. We are pleased to yet again leverage Nokia's expertise and innovation leadership."

Ernst Nassl, head of customer business team Turkey and Central Asia at Nokia, said: "By signing the agreement with Türk Telekom to develop 5G and IoT technologies, we are taking an important step towards defining the future of mobile networks. Our work with customers on 5G is crucial in allowing us to better understand real network use-cases for this technology and to accelerate commercial use."