The combined 5G solution set will enable faster, pre-validated implementations of 5G networks

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. and Ciena® (NYSE: CIEN) have entered into an agreement to deliver 5G network solutions to the market. The agreement enables Samsung to couple Ciena’s xHaul solutions with its own 5G solutions to support the next-generation of high-bandwidth applications and services driven by expanding 5G networks.

Samsung and Ciena will collaborate to offer hardware and software solutions to telecom operators, enabling them to support the increasing volume of 5G data traffic at the edge and within an increasingly distributed 5G architecture.

“As 5G proliferates, immersive services like AR/VR and HD video streaming are becoming the center of our daily mobile lives. In order to deliver more powerful 5G services, the current network architecture needs to evolve,” said Wonil Roh, Senior Vice President and Head of Product Strategy, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “Samsung’s ability to couple our best-in-class 5G solutions with a leader in transport technologies like Ciena will give customers a solution to address this need, and do so with the confidence to scale and evolve their networks to support the future of 5G.”

Combining Samsung’s 5G RAN and Core with Ciena’s xHaul Routing and Switching portfolio and next-generation Manage, Control and Plan (MCP) domain controller will give customers an optimized offer that takes full advantage of 5G services, while providing efficient ways to manage massive data across networks and to the cloud. This will help accelerate the deployment of advanced applications enhanced by 5G, such as network slicing, IoT and automation through AI. The combined offer will deliver a validated solution, providing more compatible, faster, and simplified implementations of 5G networks.

“Together with Samsung, we’re fueling the next generation of mobile connectivity to unleash the full potential of 5G,” said Matt Cook, Vice President, Global Partner Organization, Ciena. “As both companies are leading innovators in our respective spaces with strong customer bases for these portfolios, this powerful collaboration leverages our collective leadership to create best-in-breed 5G networks that are open, scalable and adaptive.”

The combined offer will comprise an end-to-end solution set including Ciena’s xHaul Routing and Switching portfolio, and next-generation MCP domain controller, and Samsung’s Core and RAN portfolio, including virtualized RAN (vRAN) solutions, baseband units and radios. The resulting solution set is available immediately.

Samsung Networks has pioneered a successful delivery of 5G solutions which include chipsets, radios, and core. Through ongoing research and development, Samsung drives the industry to advance 5G networks with its market-leading product portfolio from fully virtualized RAN and Core to private network solutions and AI-powered automation tools. The company is currently providing network solutions to mobile operators that deliver connectivity to hundreds of millions of users around the world.

Ciena is an industry leader in coherent optical, routing and switching and analytics-driven automation. The company’s innovations underpin many of the world’s largest mobile backhaul networks, including the world’s largest mobile network operators.