Telefónica has signed an agreement with Nokia to evaluate technologies that promise to provide a bridge to 5G – what Nokia calls 4.9G and includes a mixture of LTE-Advanced and LTE-A Pro standards, plus some additional elements, including Massive MIMO, to boost 4G performance and efficiency, and lay foundations for 5G. The deal says that Nokia will focus on trials that maximize the use of Telefónica’s existing network assets, to address rising data usage and new Internet of Things services. The partners will conduct trials using licensed and unlicensed spectrum, including 64×64 Massive MIMO, to increase capacity in urban centers as well as in suburban and rural areas, particularly any areas where LTE spectrum is limited. Some of the tests…