The major pieces are falling into place for the wide-scale rollout of 5G networks beginning in 2019. according to Qualcomm executives at a media event in San Diego ahead of the upcoming Mobile World Congress.
For the 5G launch to be successful, all of the following would have to be commercially ready: we standards, silicon, network infrastructure deployment, available spectrum, a choice of consumer devices, and viable use cases sustained by business models.
Qualcomm said the industry has made progress in each of these areas, setting the stage for what should be a strong rollout of 5G by a number of mobile operators. This week Qualcomm is announcing:
5G design wins with device manufacturers — there is a growing list of leading global OEMs choosing the Qualcomm Snapdragon X50 5G NR modem family for standard-compliant 5G NR mobile device product launches starting in 2019. These 5G mobile devices will be for the sub-6 GHz and millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum bands. Brands committing to the Snapdragon X50 5G NR modem include: Asus, Fujitsu Limited, Fujitsu Connected Technologies Limited, HMD Global – the home of Nokia phones, HTC, Inseego/Novatel Wireless, LG, NetComm Wireless, NETGEAR, OPPO, Sharp, Sierra Wireless, Sony Mobile, Telit, vivo, Wingtech, WNC, Xiaomi and ZTE.
5G NR Trials with mobile operators — Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ X50 5G modem has been selected for use in live, over-the-air mobile 5G NR trials with multiple global wireless network operators in both the sub-6 GHz and millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum bands. AT&T, British Telecom, China Telecom, China Mobile, China Unicom, Deutsche Telekom, KDDI, KT Corporation, LG Uplus, NTT DOCOMO, Orange, Singtel, SK Telecom, Sprint, Telstra, TIM, Verizon and Vodafone Group will conduct the trials, which will be based on the 3GPP Release 15 5G NR standard.
Use cases — 5G use cases include enhanced mobile broadband to smartphones; Always Connected PCs; head-mounted displays (HMD) for virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and extended reality (XR); and Mobile Broadband, all of which require constant and consistent cloud connectivity.
“2018 will be a big year for Qualcomm Technologies and the mobile industry overall as we work to execute on the agreed upon 5G NR specification,” said Cristiano Amon, president, Qualcomm Incorporated.
