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It's early, but the transition to fifth-generation 5G wireless networks began this week when Verizon activated its 5G service in parts of Chicago and Minneapolis, and SK Telecom in South Korea made even in Seoul neighborhoods and surrounding cities.
This was good news for Qualcomm President Cristiano Amon, who helped speed up the 5G rollout schedule.
The launch of the new mobile technology was scheduled for June 2020, but the San Diego-based company and other players in the wireless telecommunications industry have accelerated the rollout this year in hopes of reviving a roll-out cycle. in the stagnant smartphone market.
"When Qualcomm experienced one of the biggest challenges in our history, with all the attacks against our business model, this is where our engineering culture shone most," said Amon in an interview this week . "In the middle of all this, we actually accelerated the 5G one year."
The 5G can offer download speeds 10 times faster than current 4G networks with imperceptible transmission delays.
In addition, these new networks promise to connect not only smartphones, but also many other gadgets. They include cars with advanced driver assistance systems, smart city infrastructure, automated factories, smart home security systems, and more.
When 4G networks began to light up about ten years ago, only a few network operators deployed this technology. 4G smartphones were limited to Samsung, LG and HTC in those early years.
With 5G, more than 20 mobile operators operate in the United States. Europe, China, Australia and elsewhere are expected to launch the new networks this year, said Amon.
In addition, Qualcomm provides 30 manufacturers of Android devices with 5G chips, he said. The company is already testing its second generation of 5G smartphone chips for devices later this year.
"You have to assume that by the end of the year, 5G service will be served by most of the metropolitan areas of the United States," said Amon. "We are looking forward to a 5G Christmas here at Qualcomm."
However, Qualcomm does not provide 5G chips to Apple. The two companies are fighting a fierce legal battle over the amount charged by Qualcomm for access to its cellular patents. A trial in the dispute is scheduled to begin on April 15. It's hard to know when Apple will launch an iPhone 5G.
Verizon has announced plans to integrate 5G into parts of 30 more cities later this year, but a spokeswoman has declined to name them for the time being.
AT & T announced last year that it had activated limited 5G services in some cities of 12 cities for some customers and businesses having purchased a 5G mobile access point.
AT & T also plans to roll out mobile 5G in parts of seven other cities in the first half of this year, including San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Jose and Las Vegas.
Sprint said it would test 5G in a handful of cities in May and June, although San Diego is not on the list.
For the moment, the only smartphone available in the United States running with the 5G is the Moto z3, which requires a special 5G attachment. But Samsung is accepting pre-orders for the Galaxy S-10 5G, which is expected to be available in the US in the first half of this year.
The speeds achieved by Verizon in Chicago and Minneapolis have impressed analysts, but 5G remains limited in some neighborhoods. Verizon charges $ 10 to add a 5G device to service plans. It is expected that technology will take a long time to become widely available.
But Amon thinks that smartphone buyers have reason to pay attention to 5G, even in these early days.
One is unlimited data. 5G reduces the cost for operators of providing bandwidth to smartphones. Amon thinks it will inspire Verizon and other operators to switch their customers to 5G networks and devices over time.
"For an operator, as your data consumption grows, it becomes unprofitable to provide an unlimited number of 4G networks," he said. "So, one of the reasons to buy it is to have unlimited data plans with great speeds."
In addition, 5G networks promise to create high-quality streaming video as ubiquitous as 4G streaming music is today.
"4G has completely changed the music," said Amon. "We are broadcasting music now. You do not buy a CD. You do not download songs. With 5G, it will happen with video.
"We are talking about how everyone with a 5G phone in a stadium is a broadcaster," he continued. "Today, most people share photos. But you will have more people who share what they do by spreading what they do. "
The high speed and low latency of the 5G should also enable mobile phones to harness their computational power over the Internet cloud, which would transfer services such as high-quality mobile gaming to work applications. intensive.
"5G will enable on-demand computing," he said. "You're connected to the cloud 100% of the time with unlimited data, unlimited storage and unlimited computing."
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