Major telecom operators are accelerating their timelines for adopting next-generation 5G networks by up to a year, giving the likes of Nokia confidence of an uplift for its own business later in 2018, Nokia CEO Rajeev Suri said.

The first commercial 5G roll-outs are due to begin later this year and Suri said he expects large deployments in the USA, South Korea, Japan and China to take place sooner than what the industry was predicting a year ago.

He also announced that Nokia has struck a partnership agreement with China Mobile – the biggest mobile operator globally by subscriber numbers – to develop 5G networks for industrial use across the world’s most populous country.

Nokia said it also expects to announce some form of deal with Vodafone, but declined to elaborate. UK-based Vodafone owns majority stakes in dozens of operators globally.

“The confidence about where that 5G uplift comes from is understanding the accelerated timelines operators now have,” Suri told Reuters.