NEC Corporation announced the provision of radio units (RU) for 5G base station equipment to NTT Docomo.

NEC began shipping three types of small-cell RU that support the 3.7 GHz, 4.5 GHz and 28 GHz bands and are compliant with O-RAN fronthaul interface specifications.

Telecom engineers can deploy the compact and light-weight RUs on the rooftops and walls of buildings, reducing installation and operation costs. Engineers at NTT Docomo will connect RUs to various vendors’ central units (CUs) by using interface features.

NEC supplies products are compliant with O-RAN fronthaul interfaces, an open interface, for 5G. NEC products will contribute for flexible 5G network deployments and support diverse use cases, said Hiroshi Nakamura, executive vice president of NTT Docomo.

Atsuo Kawamura, president of the Network Services Business Unit at NEC, said the network company participates in Docomo’s 5G Open Partner Program as part of its ongoing provision of base stations and demonstration systems for Docomo’s 5G Open Lab.