Taiwan's IT and network equipment makers are gearing up to explore new business opportunities for 5G enterprise network solutions, particularly in the Japan market, where demand for such solutions is expected to be fueled by the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, according to industry sources.

5G enterprise networks will be one of the most accessible segments for Taiwan IT and network players as long as they meet the specs set by the O-RAN Alliance, the sources said, though the telecom network market has been dominated by a small group of telecom equipment vendors with little pricing flexibility.

To help makers tap the segment, Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs has gathered IT and networking specialists to demonstrate their latest 5G technologies and applications at the IEEE GLOBECOM 2020 in Taipei, including Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), Foxconn, Quanta Computer, Comal Electronics, Alpha Networks, Qisda, Wistron NeWeb, Intel and MediaTek.

The Department of Industrial Technology (DOIT) under the ministry said it has invested NT$3.6 billion (US$127.62 million) to support domestic R&D in five core enterprise network technologies including 5G small cells, edge computing and EPC (evolved packet core) lite solutions, aiming to help makers create output value of NT$50 billion by 2022.

Many leading IT players are stepping up efforts to build their own ecosystem in the field. Quanta has gathered domestic system integrators to jointly tap the 5G enterprise network market; Compal has partnered with Cisco Systems and others in agriculture, transportation and manufacturing sectors to set up application cases in Taiwan; and Wistron has also joined forces with its affiliates Wiwynn and Wistron NeWeb to develop clients in diverse fields, industry sources said.

They are also eyeing the Japan market, with Quanta, Qisda and Compal all incorporating or having incorporated 5G enterprise network solutions into clients there in cooperation with Japanese system integrators including NEC and Fujitsu, the sources said. The Tokyo Olympics, which has been postponed to 2021 from 2020 due to the pandemic, is expected to significantly fuel demand for the solutions.