Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) and SmarTone, one of the leading communication service providers in Hong Kong, have agreed to a five-year contract for the deployment of 5G in Hong Kong. Ericsson is the sole supplier of SmarTone’s 4G network and will continue as their sole 5G vendor – extending the companies’ 28 years of partnership.

Stephen Chau, Chief Technology Officer of SmarTone, says: “SmarTone has been preparing for the 5G era with Ericsson in Hong Kong since January 2017, when we conducted the first 5G technology demo in this market. Together, Ericsson and SmarTone have led global technology developments in mobility and delivered multiple ‘firsts’ through early joint trials, shared research and collaborative product development. We will continue to leverage our long-term partnership to build a world-class and robust 5G network in Hong Kong and deliver best-of-breed 5G network experience to customers. SmarTone is also proud to be playing a key role in Hong Kong’s transformation to a smart city.”

SmarTone will be the first operator in Hong Kong to deploy Ericsson Spectrum Sharing – a unique spectrum sharing technology that enables dynamic sharing of spectrum between 4G and 5G and more efficient use of its existing spectrum and existing Ericsson Radio System infrastructure for 5G deployment. With this advanced technology, SmarTone customers will also be able to enjoy enhanced overall network experience brought by 5G.

Magnus Ewerbring, Chief Technology Officer, Asia Pacific at Ericsson, says: “With Ericsson Spectrum Sharing, SmarTone will be able to more efficiently allocate its spectrum assets according to traffic demands, using its existing infrastructure. This ensures, not only a smoother transition to 5G but also a faster one.”

This new agreement also includes Ericsson’s Dual-Mode 5G Core, enabling SmarTone to quickly launch advanced services and run efficient operations through a cloud-native solution combining Evolved Packet Core (EPC) and 5G Core architectures. This will allow SmarTone to extract more business value out of its network. Ericsson will also deploy automated provisioning and insight-driven service assurance with Ericsson Orchestration and management systems to simplify operations.

And with the latest artificial intelligence (AI) powered radio access capabilities, the SmarTone network will also benefit from machine learning and real-time processing on the baseband. This will allow the network to instantaneously direct the 5G end-user to the best 5G cells, providing better coverage and a superior 5G experience. The network can also predict traffic patterns and autonomously activate smart sleep modes for antennas to reduce energy usage.

Ericsson’s Security Reliability Model ensures security and privacy by design in all its network infrastructure products across radio, core, cloud infrastructure, and operational and business support domains. This approach enables SmarTone to manage a new era of network security, including 5G and IoT.