Director of ITU's Telecommunications Standardization Bureau, Dr. Chaesub Lee, has confirmed that the ITU will seek to develop international standards for the internet of things and smart cities. Smart Cities World Forums magazine managed to secure an exclusive interview with Dr. Lee, who highlighted the progress the ITU is making towards defining 5G standards, and the benefits its KPI's are having for smart sustainable cities.

Finnish telecommunications colossus Nokia has announced that it has sealed a major deal to supply 5G base stations to Japan's largest mobile operator NTT Docomo. The agreement represents the vendor's first large-scale 5G contract since the first formal 5G New Radio (NR) standard was established and subsequently approved in last month.

Italian operator Telecom Italia has announced that the Republic of San Marino will become the first country in Europe to have a 5G mobile network. Telecom Italia made the prediction following the disclosure of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with government officials from San Marino.

US telecommunications colossus AT&T has seemingly trumped its major rivals Verizon and T-Mobile US by officially announcing that it will offer 5G services for its mobile customers in a dozen or so markets later this year.