NEC Australia, a leading ICT solutions and services company, and BAI Communications (BAI), a leading communications infrastructure provider have today agreed to strengthen their ongoing relationship and seek out new strategic opportunities for partnership.

This builds on each organisation’s complementary strengths to create a superior 5G offering to the telecommunications market. Both organisations have invested significantly in building their local teams’ 5G, mobile edge computing, and IoT capabilities. 5G solutions are an important growth pillar for both BAI and NEC, which share common major customers, including carriers, and state and federal government agencies.

BAI and NEC have a long and close working relationship in Australia. BAI is at the forefront of broadcast transmission, delivering 126 million broadcasting hours, reaching 99% of the Australian population. NEC has supplied analogue and digital radio and broadcast transmission and microwave solutions for BAI’s extensive network for decades.

The memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed by BAI Australia CEO, Peter Lambourne and NEC ANZ President & CEO, Mitsuhiro Murooka in Sydney on 23 March 2022. It provides a framework for collaboration on 4G/5G related wireless opportunities in mutual strategic areas. This framework can be used to pursue opportunities such as bids, trials, and solutions for carriers, government, public transport authorities, and private network operators.

BAI and NEC are interested in developing neutral host network solutions that use a common infrastructure platform for all wireless carriers. This solution allows for a ‘whole of precinct approach’ and is more cost effective for the carriers and reduces environmental impact.

One use case for a neutral host network is the proposed Public Safety Mobile Broadband (PSMB) capability, which can deliver high speed data, increase situational awareness, collaboration, and provide a safer operational environment for first responders.

Both organisations promote 5G O-RAN (Open Radio Access Network) solutions that provide vendor flexibility for customers. O-RAN is an open architecture solution fostering market competition, customer choice, lower equipment costs, and improved network performance. NEC is a leader in the O-RAN Alliance, a group of like-minded strategic partners that promotes O-RAN. NEC helped deliver the world’s first Cloud Native 5G O-RAN network in Japan (as a 5G O-RAN solution and system integration provider), with similar projects to come in other markets.

NEC ANZ President & CEO Mitsuhiro Murooka said: “I am delighted that NEC and BAI are partnering for innovative 5G solutions such as O-RAN and neutral host. Our combination of strengths offers better and more affordable mobile connectivity services to rural communities, carriers, and the government sector.”

BAI Australia CEO Peter Lambourne said: “BAI and NEC have worked together closely for decades, starting with broadcasting. I am very pleased to be partnering with NEC for innovative technologies in the connected, high-capacity and multi-use network sector, to benefit Australian communities, businesses, and government.”