Airspan Networks Inc., a supplier of broadband wireless equipment supporting the 4G LTE and WIMAX protocol standards has announced its strategic partnership with Mitsui & Co., Ltd., one of the largest sogo shosha in Japan. This represents the first step for Mitsui towards investing in and growing its 5G business, in one of the most promising technologies of tomorrow and players in the space.

As part of this collaboration, Mitsui will also be able to provide financial and commercial support, to Airspan for large scale 5G rollouts. Furthermore, Mistui’s fully owned subsidiary MKI will provide Airspan with operational and deployment support in Japan and Asia, thanks to its years of local experience and reach.

“We are proud to partner with Airspan, their success in delivering innovative and proven scalable 4G solutions will serve as a key advantage now in realizing their disruptive vision for 5G Open RAN network infrastructure, software, and services,” says Taisuke Miyake, General Manager, IT Solution Dept. ICT Business Unit, Mitsui.

“Mitsui’s experience in pioneering new technologies on

Mitsui’s experience in pioneering new technologies on a global level will be an invaluable asset for us as we scale and ramp up our 5G network deployments worldwide

a global level will be an invaluable asset for us as we scale and ramp up our 5G network deployments worldwide, we are excited and honored to welcome such a prestigious partner,” says Henrik Smith-Petersen, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, Airspan Networks.

Mitsui & Co. is one of the largest and most prominent global trading and investment companies. Founded in Japan in 1947, the Group maintains a unique, unobstructed view of international markets through its worldwide network spanning across 66 countries, with a diversified business portfolio stretching across six key sectors.

Airspan is a multi-award winning 4G & 5G network densification solution provider with nearly one million cells deployed world-wide, and an expansive product portfolio of indoor and outdoor, compact Femto, Pico, Micro, and Macro base stations. The perfect tool kit to exploit the full potential of technologies such as mmWave, Sub 6GHz, Massive MIMO, and open V-RAN architectures. As well as an industry-leading fixed wireless access and backhaul solution portfolio for PTP and PTMP applications.