Techwire carries interesting article from Pete Carey, San Jose MercuryNews:

Cisco Systems and Swedish telecom giant Ericsson announced a sweeping global partnership Monday that’s a few steps short of a merger but which should shake up the networking industry with a powerful new combination.

The two companies said they were joining forces to create “networks of the future.”

The pooling of the two companies’ research and development teams could accelerate the introduction of faster mobile devices through 5G, the next phase of mobile telecommunications. The higher speeds of 5G will provide wireless connections for many new applications, including wearables, smart homes and traffic safety, and will be a key component of the “networked society,” according to Ericsson’s research blog.

The announcement underscores the rapid changes occurring in the industry, as mobile and cloud computing and even the evolving Internet of Things create new demands for faster deployment of networks through software as well as hardware.

Full story here: Cisco and Ericsson Partner for ‘Networks of the Future’