NEC Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co. will tie up on development and global marketing of next-generation telecommunications base stations for mobile phone carriers, according to sources.

The Japanese and South Korean companies are initially focusing on the U.S. and Japanese markets, with Samsung hoping to sell its products for the fifth-generation mobile network to NTT Docomo Inc., and NEC launching its base station business outside Japan for the first time, the sources said Sunday.

They are considering supplying their products to each other, the sources said. Samsung already sells high-frequency base stations in the U.S. market where 5G services started this year. NEC will likely develop low-frequency base stations, the sources said.

Their plan to expand the network equipment business globally comes after U.S. regulators proposed a ban on network operators' purchase of equipment from companies receiving government funding, a move seen as an attempt to block Chinese manufacturers from selling 5G equipment there.

U.S. lawmakers have voiced concerns about using Chinese network products that they say could open a path for espionage and intellectual property theft.