The 5G future is here, or so we are hearing sitting here in India, trying to make our 3G and 4G connections work. We’ve been hearing about the Fifth Generation of network technology for a couple of years now, and it will be a couple more before India finally gets to enjoy the low-latency, high speed network on devices powerful enough to handle it. On the other side of the world though, countries like the US, UK, Japan and others are preparing to roll out commercial 5G networks as early as this year and device makers are hurriedly preparing phones and experiences that are 5G compatible.
A large chunk of the responsibility of making 5G work rests on the shoulders companies like Qualcomm and Intel, as well as network equipment manufacturers and suppliers like Samsung, Nokia, Huawei and others. This year, all these 5G stalwarts are expected to descend on the MWC showfloor and make 5G truly come alive. Some are deploying usable 5G networks within the event, while others are showcasing multiple use cases of the technology.
Take Samsung for instance. The South Korean tech giant will be live broadcasting GSMA’s Mobile World Live TV (MWL), the official media channel of MWC19 Barcelona, using its own 5G network and equipment. During the event, Samsung’s 5G technology will be used to broadcast MWL across the Fira Gran Via venue as well as across 280 hotels in Barcelona city. Samsung’s 5G solutions, including a radio access unit (5G Radio) and a 5G router (CPE), will be used to broadcast HD content for MWL from a booth on the MWC showfloor.
Beyond the 5G network technologies Samsung plans to showcase at the event, the company’s newly launched Galaxy S10 5G, Samsung’s first 5G handset, is also slated to be make an appearance on the showfloor. While the device will not go on sale immediately, at least until 5G networks are deployed internationally, it will enable ultra low latency and blazing fast download speeds using 5G when it hits the market. The technology is also touted to help create immersive AR and VR experiences and make for uninterrupted, high quality video calls.
Galaxy S10 5G
Over at the Intel setup on the MWC event floor, one can expect to see multiple 5G use cases across client, cloud, network and edge. Intel is working towards improving machine-to-machine communication using 5G networks in warehouses and production units. The company will also showcase 5G use cases across virtual reality and augmented reality gaming. A cool use case Intel plans to demonstrate is its first 5G network which will be deployed at the Olympic Winter Games. The company will partner with KT, NTT Docomo and Toyota to give audiences an early view into the future of 5G. We’re also expecting to see smart city use cases powered by 5G at the Intel MWC booth.
Like Intel, Qualcomm also has a big stake in 5G commercialisation. Most 2019 flagships will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset which offers 5G support with X50 Modem. While all SD855 phones may note be 5G ready, smartphone makers like Xiaomi, OnePlus and Samsung will be showcasing their 5G-ready devices at MWC in partnership with the chipmaker. We expect to get our hands on the OnePlus 5G smartphone prototype and the Galaxy S10 5G, connected to working 5G networks, at the event. Xiaomi’s 5G device is not yet confirmed, but we think the company will announce its Mi 9 X Alita edition powered by the Snapdragon 855 and the X50 5G modem or a Mi Mix 3 5G variant.
Qualcomm is also expected to discuss updates on its RF front-end (RFFE) solutions that make multi-mode, multi-band smartphones practical, as well as impact a device’s battery life, display size, network reception, call quality and data speeds.
Nokia might not have a 5G smartphone at MWC, but the company’s 5G solutions will definitely show up at the event. Ahead of MWC19, Nokia has announced two new AirScale small cells which basically help extend 5G performance indoors and outdoors. These are more enterprise-centric and public sector tools that will help businesses and places like airports, stadiums and busy pedestrian zones make better use of 5G networks once they are commercialised.
Lastly, Huawei is expected to jump on the 5G and foldable smartphone bandwagon in one go at MWC. The company is expected to announce a 5G enabled foldable smartphone at an event on February 24. Nothing really is known about the said device, but Huawei recently unveiled its 5G multi-mode chipset Balong 5000 which supports 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G connectivity on a single chip. Accompanying the Balong 5000, a 5G CPE Pro router was also announced by Huawei, and the company claims that together, the duo will provide the fastest wireless connectivity in the world. The company says that the Balong 5000 can achieve download speeds up to 4.6 Gbps on low frequency Sub-6 GHz band and up to 6.5 Gbps on high-frequency mmWave spectrum.
Huawei is also a major equipment provider for 5G and recently claimed that it has already shipped upwards of 40,000 5G-ready base stations. The company also reportedly made the world’s first multi-operator 5G video call recently, creating a 4-way conversation between 5G networks from Ding, BT, Three and Vodafone.
So clearly, the future of connectivity is 5G, even though we in India have to get in line to get our share of the pie. Cisco predicts that 5G will dominate networks across the globe by 2022, generating nearly three-times more traffic than a typical 4G connection. According to the company, North America is expected to have the highest proportion of of 5G connections (9 per cent), followed by Western Europe (6 per cent) and Asia-Pacific (4 per cent) by 2022. The countries with the largest share of devices on 5G connections by 2022 will be Japan (12 per cent), Sweden (11 per cent) and the US (10 per cent). The India 5G story is yet to unfold.
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