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Tag: 5G

  • Huawei Sets World Record Single User 5G Speed

    Huawei Sets World Record Single User 5G Speed

    Huawei may be blacklisted by the U.S. and under scrutiny by governments around the world, but there is no disputing their status as a leader in the telecommunications industry. If there was any doubt about that, Huawei has just put it to rest.

    According to an announcement on the company’s site, Huawei has achieved a world record for single user 5G smartphone speed, achieving 2.92 Gbps, in conjunction with Türk Telekom. The test, conducted in Istanbul, Turkey, was performed on a Huawei Mate 20 X 5G smartphone.

    “We combined two 5G carriers and established a new world record by reaching speeds of above 2.92 Gbps in our live 5G test network,” said Yusuf Kıraç, Türk Telekom’s CTO. “We are also the first operator to experiment with the 5G New Radio Carrier Aggregation Technology (C-Band NR Carrier Aggregation), which doubles the 5G link speed. Türk Telekom will continue to lead the development of all new generation technologies that our country needs in the future, as we do today.

    “We have reached unprecedented speeds thanks to this technology, which provides many benefits for users and operators,” said Kıraç. “The high speed and large capacity targets promised by 5G technology have been achieved.”

    While governments around the world debate about how to address concerns and allegations that Huawei passes sensitive information to the Chinese government, operators have warned that banning Huawei will lead to 5G rollouts taking years longer and costing billions more. This latest test adds veracity to those claims and will no doubt be a factor in any negotiations moving forward.

  • Not So Fast: Huawei May Not Qualify to Participate In German 5G Market

    Not So Fast: Huawei May Not Qualify to Participate In German 5G Market

    Germany made headlines a few weeks ago when it released its ‘security catalog,’ a set of rules for 5G deployment. Despite the German government stating no telecommunications company was excluded, it now appears Huawei may not qualify after all, according to Reuters.

    Reuters is reporting that German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas expressed concern over Huawei’s dependence on the Chinese government, obligating it to pass on any sensitive information it may be privy to.

    According to the report, “Germany therefore wants to add a test of trustworthiness to the 5G security catalogue that so far had mainly envisaged an evaluation of technical criteria, Maas said.

    “In this test of trustworthiness, German authorities will examine if a company is forced by law in its home country to pass on information and data that actually should be protected, Maas said, adding: ‘That’s the case with Huawei.’”

    Despite Maas’ stance, nothing is certain. German operators have already warned the government that banning Huawei would add billions in cost and years of effort to a successful 5G rollout. It’s possible Germany may allow Huawei to participate, but limit the company’s access from more sensitive aspects of the technology’s deployment.

    Whatever happens, with the U.S. continuing to pressure allies and Britain voicing similar concern, Huawei still faces a long road to convincing world governments that it can be trusted.

  • Apple Gearing Up For 5G iPhone Launch in 2020

    Apple Gearing Up For 5G iPhone Launch in 2020

    Citing multiple sources, Nikkei Asian Review said Apple is preparing to launch 5G iPhones in 2020.

    According to the report, while Apple has been slow to adopt 5G, it is hoping to leapfrog the competition with the new models. In combination with 5G connectivity, the iPhones will feature updated, more powerful processors and leading-edge screens. If the move is successful, it could help Apple edge out Huawei as the world’s second-largest smartphone maker.

    “It will be the first time Apple introduces 5G iPhones … There will be three of them and the company has set an aggressive sales target,” one of the sources told Nikkei.

    Given the popularity of the iPhone, Apple’s plans could also help spur faster adoption of 5G technology, especially in markets outside of China. China has recently made the news for its faster-than-expected 5G rollout. In contrast, many carriers in other parts of the world are lagging behind. With Apple planning multiple 5G iPhones next year, carriers will have to move rapidly to keep their customers happy and prevent them from switching to competitors who succeed in rolling out 5G faster.

    If Nikkei’s sources are to be believed, 2020 should be a good year for 5G and the customers looking forward to using it.

  • China Unveils 5G Network Faster Than Anticipated

    China Unveils 5G Network Faster Than Anticipated

    China has succeeded in beating estimates, rolling out one of the world’s largest 5G networks months ahead of schedule.

    Originally slated for a 2020 rollout, China Telecom, China Unicom and China Mobile simultaneously announced immediate availability of 5G plans “with prices ranging from 128 yuan (about 18 U.S. dollars) to 599 yuan. Subscribers will be able to enjoy connections way faster than 4G and less expensive data per gigabyte.

    “For example, China Unicom’s 129-yuan service plan comes with a 30-gigabyte data cap, 500 minutes of voice talk and a 500-Mbps speed cap. Its 599-yuan plan allows 300 gigabytes of data and 3,000 minutes of voice talk, putting the speed limit at 1 Gbps.”

    The new service is available in 50 cities throughout the country. Because 5G uses high-frequency millimeter waves, rather than the low-frequency waves used by previous networks, the service must rely on a greater number of cell towers and base stations to achieve reliable coverage. In Shanghai alone, some 11,859 base stations were activated to provide coverage across the city.

    Given the ongoing trade war between the United States and China, a war in which 5G has been a prominent battleground, it will be interesting to see how U.S. companies respond to China’s announcement.

  • DISH Network Moving Forward With 5G Plans

    DISH Network Moving Forward With 5G Plans

    DISH Network has announced another Request for Proposal (RFP) as it prepares to build the nation’s first standalone 5G network.

    RFPs are a standard part of the process of building out a new network and this is the third RFP DISH has requested. The Deployment Services RFP, for end-to-end deployment services vendors, is expected the week of October 28.

    “We’re building a first-of-its kind standalone 5G network and want to employ a diversity of expertise from partners large and small,” said DISH Executive Vice President of Wireless Operations, Jeff McSchooler. “We’ll build upon the existing relationships we have with deployment vendors from our NB-IoT buildout, while seeking local, regional and national vendors that can apply their strengths to increase the speed and efficiency of our 5G network deployment.”

    DISH has previously committed to building out a 5G broadband network that will reach approximately 70 percent of the U.S. population by June 2023. This latest RFP is another major step in that direction.

    “An Executive Summary of the Deployment Services RFP is available here.

    “Vendors interested in receiving the Deployment Services RFP when it is released can contact DISH Wireless at [email protected] before Oct. 28, 2019.”

  • Huawei In Talks to License 5G Tech to U.S. Companies

    Huawei In Talks to License 5G Tech to U.S. Companies

    Huawei may have found a way around a ban on exporting its equipment to the U.S. that went into effect in May 2019. According to Reuters, the telecommunications equipment company is in talks to license its 5G tech to U.S. firms.

    The company has repeatedly been accused of having backdoors in its equipment and software—backdoors the Chinese government allegedly uses for spying. Huawei has denied the allegations, but that has not saved it from being on a U.S. blacklist. Although the U.S. has not been successful in persuading all of its allies to similarly ban Huawei, the equipment company is still looked suspiciously by many Western powers.

    Vincent Pang, senior vice president and board director, told Reuters “there are some companies talking to us, but it would take a long journey to really finalize everything. They have shown interest,” he added, although the conversations are in the very early stages.

    Although the State Department has previously voiced skepticism about carriers being willing to license 5G tech and assume the cost of bringing it to market, the option may prove more desirable than the alternatives. European companies, such as Nokia and Ericsson, are more expensive than Huawei. There is also no U.S. 5G provider for carriers to fall back on. Licensing Huawei’s tech could give carriers an advantage by giving them more complete control over their network equipment, allowing them to fully optimize it for their needs.

    As Zak Doffman at Forbes points out, Huawei may have another motive making its tech available for licensing.

    “In offering to open its code to U.S. diligence, Huawei would make it impossible for security hawks to allege such hidden backdoors,” writes Doffman. “This then became the twist—Huawei isn’t embarking on an exercise in friendly bridge building to Trump or others in Washington. This is a major game of “call my bluff,” an attempt to call out a situation Huawei believes is politically motivated and not rooted in facts. If the U.S. believes what it says, the hypothesis runs, then it will take up the offer and prove its point. If it doesn’t, then the accusations that have been made have nothing to do with security or technology.”

    In what seems like a never-ending battle between Washington and Huawei, it will be interesting to see if these talks lead to an easing of restrictions.

  • OPPO Plans to Release the First Dual-Mode 5G Phone

    OPPO Plans to Release the First Dual-Mode 5G Phone

    OPPO has announced plans to release the world’s first dual-mode 5G phone before year’s end. The phone was announced at the Qualcomm 5G Summit 2019 in Barcelona, a fitting location as it will be powered by Qualcomm’s chipset.

    Dual-mode phones will be compatible with both SA and NSA networks. SA stands for standalone mode, where only 5G is used for data and signaling. NSA, in contrast, stands for non-standalone and uses LTE for some of the process, such as cell tower communication.

    In making the announcement, Henry Tang, OPPO’s Chief 5G Scientist said:

    “The unrelenting efforts from OPPO and other industry peers have paved the way for the rapid adoption of 5G, with users in select countries and regions already becoming early adopters of OPPO’s 5G smartphones. We hope our next-generation dual-mode 5G offerings will deliver a superior experience to more consumers in more markets globally, making 5G readily available to a wider consumer base worldwide.”

    According to Tang, OPPO is working with over a dozen global operators to accelerate 5G commercialization worldwide. The company plans to consistently introduce more 5G products globally.

  • Cisco CEO Says 5G Networks Could Be Active In 2 to 3 Years

    Cisco CEO Says 5G Networks Could Be Active In 2 to 3 Years

    “The carriers today are building the consumer 5G networks, and they don’t require a massive backbone upgrade when you just increase bandwidth to lots of mobile phones.”

    Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins stopped by Fox Business’ Mornings with Maria to discuss 5G, intellectual property and reports of China bullying companies.

    “When they begin to build out enterprise 5G services, then that will require them to build a dedicated, next generation, high-performance backbone because of all the traffic that will be generated and…that will be over the next two to three years. So right now, they are focused on the radios needed for the consumer side.

    “If you think about the speeds that are going to be supported at the edge, and the number of those connections, it’s only logical that you’re going to have to update…your infrastructure to accommodate all the bandwidth that’s going to be…given out around the world. So we would expect to ultimately be a beneficiary of that when it happens.”

    Mr. Robbins goes on to discuss the challenges the world is facing economically, emphasizing his belief that the economic slowdown is a global one, not isolated to the U.S.

    While highlighting that intellectual property theft is by no means unique to the Chinese market, Mr. Robbins was adamant that respect for intellectual property needs to be a fundamental aspect of doing business.

    “The lack of theft should be a core principle in every country around the world….I think that’s a broad issue that should just be a basic premise of doing business around the world, is that your intellectual property should be respected.”

    He also discussed recent reports of companies being bullied by the Chinese government. While he said Cisco has never been able to reach the level of business they would like to within the country, they had never felt bullied by China.

    https://video.foxbusiness.com/v/6094650754001/

  • Germany Won’t Exclude Huawei 5G Equipment

    Germany Won’t Exclude Huawei 5G Equipment

    Germany has completed its ‘security catalog,’ a set of rules telecommunications companies must comply with as they deploy 5G networks. Reuters is reporting that, despite pressure from the U.S., German officials have not excluded Huawei from participation.

    The U.S. and Huawei have been at odds over allegations the equipment vendor has backdoors in its 5G equipment—backdoors that enable China to spy on other countries. Huawei has vehemently denied the allegations, but that hasn’t stopped the U.S. from taking action to implement bans, export controls and tech sharing restrictions. This has impacted all aspects of the company’s business, even resulting in it losing full access to Google’s Android. The U.S. has also put pressure on European allies to limit Huawei’s ability to do business in the EU.

    In what some are seeing as a snub of U.S. interests, Germany declined to single out any vendor, including Huawei. This is likely due to warnings from German operators who have said banning Huawei could cost billions and add years to a successful 5G rollout.

    “We are not taking a pre-emptive decision to ban any actor, or any company,” German government spokesman Steffen Seibert told a news conference in Berlin on Monday.

  • Apple to Use Its Own 5G Modems in 2022

    Apple to Use Its Own 5G Modems in 2022

    According to Fast Company, Apple may have its own 5G modems ready for production as early as 2022, ending its reliance on Qualcomm.

    Apple has been trying to end its dependence on Qualcomm for some time now. Initially, the company switched to using Intel, while at the same time fighting a legal battle with Qualcomm over what it perceived to be unfair pricing. Ultimately, the two companies settled in April, followed by Apple promptly buying Intel’s 5G modem business.

    Apple is likely looking to leverage its purchase to create its own modems where it would have full control. As Fast Company reports, Apple initially worked with Intel in the hopes of producing a “system on a chip,” where a modem would be integrated into a single chip along with the other processors Apple uses in iPhones and iPads. Doing so would provide significant power and energy benefits. Ultimately, that partnership ended because of Intel’s inability to deliver.

    Now that Apple owns Intel’s modem business, the company will be free to continue its aspirations, without relying on other partners. Traditionally, Apple has always preferred developing its own chips. Prior to the switch to Intel, Apple partnered with IBM and Motorola to develop the PowerPC line of chips. More recently, the company has licensed ARM processors to create its A-series chips used in iPhones and iPads.

    Despite Apple’s expertise in chip design, sources told Fast Company that 2022 is an optimistic launch window. Once the chips are fabricated, they must still be rigorously tested to ensure they work with carriers’ networks. One factor in Apple’s favor is the individual likely leading their modem efforts. According to FactCompany’s source, Esin Terzioglu, Qualcomm’s former VP of Engineering, is probably in charge of the 5G team.

    Whether Mr. Terzioglu’s experience is enough to help Apple meet its goal remains to be seen.

  • We Plan to Have 30 5G Cities By Year-End, Says Verizon CEO

    We Plan to Have 30 5G Cities By Year-End, Says Verizon CEO

    “We have a plan to have 30 5G cities by year-end,” says Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg. “We are at 13 right now so we’re adding every week. We added New York last week. We have also updated 13 NFL stadiums with 5G and the NBA season hasn’t even started. We believe that our 5G for the consumer is just crushing it. That’s where we are focusing right now on our mobility build. We also do 5G Home. In the fourth quarter, we are going to launch our 5G Mobile Edge Compute which is an enterprise service with the all-new capabilities of 5G.”

    Hans Vestberg, CEO of Verizon Communications, discusses where the company is at in its 5G build-out and how 5G is going to be a dramatic technology shift for consumers and enterprises in an interview on Bloomberg Technology:

    We Plan to Have 30 5G Cities By Year-End

    For the mobility case, we have a plan to have 30 5G cities by year-end. We are at 13 right now so we’re adding every week. We added New York last week. We have also updated 13 NFL stadiums with 5G and the NBA season hasn’t even started. We believe that our 5G for the consumer is just crushing it. That’s where we are focusing right now on our mobility build. We also do 5G Home. In the fourth quarter, we are going to launch our 5G Mobile Edge Compute which is an enterprise service with the all-new capabilities of 5G.

    We have the best 4G network in the market and we will continue to see that our customers get the best experience on the technology we have. We are giving them the first experience on 5G. We were first with the 5G Home and we were first with a 5G smartphone. At the same time, we keep our 4G network (state of the art). We will continue to do that and when we see that the market is ready then we will have national 5G coverage as well. Usually, we speak less and we execute when we have it and then we talk. That’s our strategy.

    5G To Enable Factory Wireless For All Robots

    I think that all (consumers and businesses) will benefit from 5G but the bonus design from the beginning was very much to make the world cordless for enterprise in society. So the 5G mobile edge compute where we’re going to launch the first Center at the end of this year, that’s really where you can as an enterprise start innovating. You can implement factory wireless for all your robots for example, or put up a 5G campus network, or a private 5G network. This is all with throughput speed and latency that is unparalleled to what you have today. Suddenly you can innovate around that.

    I have met many of the 1,400 enterprises in this country over the last six months to talk to them and show them the platform that we’re going to create and how they can innovate to it. This is a partnership between us with the customer and probably in some cases some software developers as well that have software that is needed for it.

    5G To Make Home Internet Wireless

    Going from 3G to 4G was, of course, an improvement in latency and speed which was visible. But the movement from 4G to 5G is even greater. The speed is so much faster, the throughput is so much more, and the latency (is 10 times better). Of course, it’s all about an ecosystem where you get devices out. Sometimes we talk a lot about consumers and right now we have four phones already out now in the market and all of them are 5G enabled. We see that the whole ecosystem coming from consumers. 

    Then you have an enterprise business and we also have a 5G home business. We’re actually doing a lot more with 5G instead of fiber. This is a totally different way of thinking about the business model for fixed wireless access bringing broadband to your home. 5G is very different because you can have several business cases on the same infrastructure. It’s the same network and it’s the same infrastructure below. It’s not a separate network for all these business cases we are talking about.

    We Plan to Have 30 5G Cities By Year-End, Says Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg
  • Fears Over 5G Radiation Prompt Nationwide Backlash in Switzerland

    Fears Over 5G Radiation Prompt Nationwide Backlash in Switzerland

    Despite being one of the first countries to roll out 5G, AFP is reporting that Switzerland is experiencing significant backlash to the new technology.

    5G, or fifth-generation wireless, is the next evolution of wireless technology, promising faster speeds, more connected devices and lower latency. Standards bodies are aiming for an average of 20Gbps, rather than Mbps, and 1ms latency instead of 50ms and higher.

    This improved speed, however, comes with a significant downside. Mobile operators use relatively low-frequency radio waves, below 6 GHz, for current cell phones. These radio waves measure tens of centimeters in length. Unfortunately, these are the same frequency mobile operators have been using for decades. As the demand for data and high-speed access has increased, not to mention the sheer number of mobile users, the amount of available bandwidth has come under strain, resulting in poor performance.

    5G, on the other hand, uses millimeter waves. These radio frequencies are much higher, between 30 and 300 GHz, and measure 1 to 10 millimeters in length. Because these frequencies have never been used for mobile phones, there is a huge, untapped amount of spectrum available. This will ease network congestion and help deliver performance never before seen.

    Unfortunately, millimeter waves have a big disadvantage when compared with lower frequencies. Specifically, millimeter waves cannot travel through buildings and other obstacles nearly as well, meaning mobile operators must have far more cell towers and sites to achieve the same coverage. One example is small cells, portable cell base stations that are placed roughly 250 meters apart.

    While small cells and similar solutions will overcome the technical issues surrounding 5G rollout, it does raise another concern. There is already worry that constant exposure to cell phone radio waves contributes to cancer. Now, with the limitations of 5G, the amount of exposure is set to increase dramatically as carriers blanket towns and cities with small cells to provide coverage.

    Those concerns have led Swiss citizens, experts and even the Swiss Federation of Doctors to pressure the government to rethink its approach to 5G. As a result of the pressure, a number of cantons—there are 26 Swiss cantons or states comprising Switzerland—have called for a halt of further 5G deployment.

    “I think we have most citizens on our side,” Coco Tache-Berther, of the organisation Fequencia, told AFP, saying Switzerland’s rapid roll-out of 5G was “ultra-shocking”.

    Mobile operators around the world will no doubt be watching to see what precedent is set in Switzerland.

  • 5G Poses New Security Risks, Says Avast CEO

    5G Poses New Security Risks, Says Avast CEO

    “5G brings a couple of things,” says Avast CEO Ondrej Vlcek. “One is the density of the network which is enabling things like IoT, the Internet of Things. That’s an exciting thing but also poses some new security risks. Second is speed of connectivity which we all want and which we all sort of are hoping to get better. But in terms of timing, it kind of differs geo by geo. East Asia is always ahead in that regard. In Europe, we can realistically expect something within two or three years.”

    Ondrej Vlcek, CEO of Avast, discusses new security risks with 5G and how privacy is becoming a big part of their business in a conversation on Bloomberg:

    5G Poses Some New Security Risks

    There were really two drivers (to our earnings results this quarter). The first one was our consumer direct segment, desktop direct, which grew 12.5 percent. The second was consumer indirect, which is actually powered by both the Jumpshot business that we have as well as the Secure Browser. These were kind of the two main things.

    5G brings a couple of things. One is the density of the network which is enabling things like IoT, the Internet of Things. That’s an exciting thing but also poses some new security risks. Second is speed of connectivity which we all want and which we all sort of are hoping to get better. But in terms of timing, it kind of differs geo by geo. East Asia is always ahead in that regard. In Europe, we can realistically expect something within two or three years.

    Privacy Is The Other Side Of The Security Coin

    I think privacy is a new category. We see it as the other side of the security coin. We are heavily investing in creating privacy-oriented solutions. So actually our portfolio today is not just security, antivirus protection is now actually less than half of our business. Now the second half is made of tools like privacy controls because we see a big opportunity. At the same time, the need is real. Consumers are more and more realizing there are privacy risks in what they are doing online and there is something that needs to be done about that.

    I got sort of inspired by the captains from the Silicon Valley such as Google and Facebook. So I gave up my salary and my bonus and I’m only getting compensated by stock which I think is the right thing for the CEO to do. Clearly, my objective is to keep the company growing. We’ve got a great runway and I’m very optimistic, being new in the role and seeing the opportunities. This is a good position to be in.

    5G Poses New Security Risks, Says Avast CEO Ondrej Vlcek
  • Rakuten Rolling Out Revolutionary 5G Mobile Network In Japan

    Rakuten Rolling Out Revolutionary 5G Mobile Network In Japan

    Building World’s First Fully Virtualized Cloud-Native Network

    With our new mobile network, all these network services are directly connected to the internet,” says Rakuten founder and CEO Hiroshi Mikitani. “Our firewall is probably much stronger than any other hardware-dependent mobile network. It is a pretty wrong idea that hardware is stronger in terms of security than software. It’s kind of a syndrome.”

    Rakuten is in taking a revolutionary approach to building out Japan’s fourth major mobile. Network. “The journey that we are embarking on in Japan will enable a complete transformation in the telecom infrastructure buildout,” explains Rakuten Mobile Network Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Tareq Amin. “We are building the world’s first end-to-end fully virtualized cloud-native network.” At the Rakuten Technology Conference, last October, Amin said that they are deploying a very different architecture and leveraging Rakuten IT skills.

    “The majority of the telecommunication companies in the world have been on this journey of transformation. And yet I would argue that very little progress has happened to deploy a true end-to-end cloud-native network,” says Amin. “In fact, there is not a single telco in the world that has moved all of its workloads to the cloud. I think Rakuten is going to be the only company in the world that’s going to enable this.”

    Rakuten Mobile Network Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Tareq Amin Announcing New Mobile Network for Japan.

    Last night on CNBC Rakuten CEO Hiroshi Mikitani discussed how the network is set to deploy 5G nationwide in Japan by June 2020:

    Rakuten Rolling Out Revolutionary 5G Mobile Network In Japan

    We are rolling out our 4G network before we launch 5G. We are going to deploy what we call mobile edge computing in Japan. We are going to have over 4,000 edge servers all over Japan. Therefore, we do not have to create a new network for 5G. What we need to do is modify our edge servers a little bit. Our core network throughput is really fast. What we have to do is just add a 5G antenna, which we already have developed together with Qualcomm as well as NEC. We will be rolling out 5G in June 2020.

    As 5G rolls out consumers will understand the benefits. The key is an edge computing. There is a very low latency between your device and edge. It’s just a millisecond latency, so it’s almost like you have artificial intelligence. You hold your own artificial intelligence in your hand. Definitely, the speed is going to be much faster, maybe 1,000 times faster than 4G. Of course, latency is going to be much shorter. So autonomous driving and other autonomous applications are going to be really becoming true.

    Rakuten Rolling Out Revolutionary 5G Mobile Network In Japan, Says Rakuten CEO Hiroshi Mikitani
  • AT&T CEO On IBM Alliance: It’s Wide, It’s Deep, It’s Formidable

    AT&T CEO On IBM Alliance: It’s Wide, It’s Deep, It’s Formidable

    “Everything we do is laser-focused on growth opportunity out in the market, cost reduction internally, and transforming ourselves into a simpler operation which then transitions into both cost and customer effectiveness,” says AT&T Communications CEO John Donovan. “This meets that hurdle. It’s wide, it’s deep, it’s formidable. It meets all those criteria. It’s one of those rare things that affect revenue costs and then how you serve your customers. In that regard, we love it.”

    John Donovan, CEO of AT&T Communications, discusses their new long-term cloud alliance announced today with IBM in an interview with Jim Cramer on CNBC:

    It’s Wide, It’s Deep, It’s Formidable

    If you think about the history we have with IBM, the risks of moving to the cloud in a really aggressive way, the kind that not only transforms your company internally and your cost structure but also how you address customers and therefore opportunities for growth, you worry about technology, you worry about how to transform your applications, and then you worry what happens if I get in trouble.

    We’ve had a 20-year relationship with IBM. They know us. So when you think about expanding Red Hat, with the experience that those guys have inside of our operations, and then the ability to go to market together, those things combined for us to form a low-risk and really high opportunity kind of situation.

    Everything we do is laser-focused on growth opportunity out in the market, cost reduction internally, and transforming ourselves into a simpler operation which then transitions into both cost and customer effectiveness. This meets that hurdle. It’s wide, it’s deep, it’s formidable. It meets all those criteria. It’s one of those rare things that affect revenue costs and then how you serve your customers. In that regard, we love it.

    5G Coming Out Of the Chute As an Enterprise First Network

    5G is the most important network that we’re going to launch in my career. We’ve been about 10 or 15 years in an architecture where everything was consumer first. This one’s coming out of the chute as an enterprise first network. It’s really about consumers seeing everything they do, whether it’s to shop or go to the hospital or new experiences with toys being statically different. Us getting the right enterprise relationships done early on 5G will be the foundation for how fast this thing scales.

    AT&T Communications CEO John Donovan On IBM Alliance: It’s Wide, It’s Deep, It’s Formidable
  • Combination of 5G and Wi-Fi 6 is Incredible, Says Boingo CEO

    Combination of 5G and Wi-Fi 6 is Incredible, Says Boingo CEO

    “5G is not really hype, it’s here and it will emerge over time,” says Boingo CEO Mike Finley. “I think it’s going to come faster than 4G did. You have all the U.S. operators engaged and you have operators all over the world that are launching and want to launch 5G products. At Boingo, we’ll take the 5G capabilities and implement them into all the venues that we have. Take (5G) cellular today and mix that with Wi-Fi that’s coming in Wi-Fi 6 and it’s really an incredible offering that comes to end-users.”

    Mike Finley, CEO of Boingo, discusses how the combination of 5G and Wi-Fi 6 is already bringing higher and faster internet speeds, lower latency, more device connections, and better security, in an interview on Bloomberg Technology:

    Wi-Fi 6 Is Starting To Come Out Now

    Wi-Fi in and of itself continues to evolve. Wi-Fi 6 is starting to come out now. We’ve recently done a trial in the John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California. Essentially, that’s higher speed, faster speeds, lower latency, and many more devices can be used at the same speeds with better security. As Wi-Fi continues to evolve you’ll start to see devices and capabilities come with that.

    The second piece of it is at Boingo we are an activity company. We offer a combination of cellular and Wi-Fi together. As new technologies come out and if that’s satellite those types of capabilities will be enabled in devices. When you have a company like Boingo that’s a neutral host company in large airports, multi-family housing, military bases, in stadiums, and places like that, we’ll enable all of that technology so that the end user can benefit from the capabilities that are in front of them.

    5G Is Not Really Hype, It’s Here

    If you look at where 5G’s at, it’s here. 5G has been launched here in the US. There are infrastructure companies outside of (China’s) Huawei that have been in front of that and are the networks that the U.S. operators are launching with. Devices are coming in rapid fashion. There are chips that companies like Qualcomm have not only developed but now have in the marketplace. There have been devices that have launched. A laptop with Lenovo and Qualcomm was announced last week that has 5G in it.

    5G is not really hype, it’s here and it will emerge over time. I think it’s going to come faster than 4G did. Part of that is because you have infrastructure vendors and device makers that are seeing that it’s going to scale quickly. You have all the U.S. operators engaged and you have operators all over the world that are launching and want to launch 5G products. That’s been being worked for a long time. At Boingo, we’ll take the 5G capabilities and implement them into all the venues that we have. Cellular today and you mix that with Wi-Fi that’s coming in Wi-Fi 6 and it’s really an incredible offering that comes to end-users.

    Boingo Continues With Double-Digit Revenue Growth

    We’ve had 18 consecutive quarters of double-digit revenue growth. We’ve exceeded our guidance for 20 quarters in a row. We’ve met the guidance that we have for the first quarter and that we’re claiming for the rest of this year. We’re performing according to our plan. We continue to invest and we have lots of opportunity in our cellular business and our Wi-Fi business continues to grow. The combination of those two together really is what separates us. We also have a new opportunity in multifamily or apartment buildings and student housing that we’re developing now as we speak.

    Combination of 5G and Wi-Fi 6 is Incredible, Says Boingo CEO Mike Finely
  • 5G is Designed So That Industries Can Use Cellular at Massive Scale, Says Qualcomm CEO

    5G is Designed So That Industries Can Use Cellular at Massive Scale, Says Qualcomm CEO

    “The transitions, 3G to 4G, 4G to 5G, are very important in order to maintain your leadership position and also it enables you to really open up and expand your business in the new areas,” says Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf. “5G is really designed so that other industries such as automotive, self-driving cars, connected healthcare, connected education, connected infrastructure, are really set up to use cellular for the first time at massive scale.”

    Steve Mollenkopf, CEO of Qualcomm, discusses how 5G is for the first time enabling industry to use cellular technology on a massive scale in an interview on CNBC:

    5G is Designed So That Industries Can Use Cellar at Massive Scale

    In this industry, you do not want to miss the transitions. The transitions, 3G to 4G, 4G to 5G, are very important in order to maintain your leadership position and also it enables you to really open up and expand your business in the new areas. This is more so true on 5G than any other G transition. We wanted to make sure that we were able to position the company do that. We did that while at the same time we brought a lot of other costs discipline within the envelope. We’re very pleased to be able to do that. It was a good call to make. I’m very proud of the team to be able to execute on that in the midst of what probably looked like a lot of distractions from the outside.

    5G is really designed so that other industries such as automotive, self-driving cars, connected healthcare, connected education, connected infrastructure, are really set up to use cellular for the first time at massive scale. Our problem today is not, do we have a great technology lead? It is how do we scale that across new industries? This is a good problem to have and I’m looking forward to tackling it with all my energy.

    The Energy of the Companies is on How to Ramp up Quickly

    Really talking about the past and some of the he said she said is not that helpful. I can tell you where the energy of the two companies is right now. The energy of the companies right now is let’s figure out how to ramp up as quickly as possible. The relationship is focused on that issue. I’ve had a lot of discussions not only within my team but also with the Apple team. That’s the focus. We talk all the time. The companies to get to an agreement as complex as this you’ve got to talk. But I can tell you, companies like this they move on and they move on to the things that are natural to work together which is products. We’re all excited about doing that.

    We are two product-focused organizations. We’re working on products, we’ve done it in the past and we love doing it. We’re good at doing it. That’s where the focus is that’s what we’re excited about. The reality is when you’re working on technologies that are meaningful and are relevant to many industries worldwide you’re going to grab attention. As long as you have a technology lead you can work your way through that. We were able to do that in the past and certainly were able to do that over the last five-plus years. I’m sure it’s going to be a little bit more calm but I can tell you I’m very happy to have that technology position.

    5G is Designed So That Industries Can Use Cellar at Massive Scale, Says Qualcomm CEO


  • We Want America To Be the Leader in 5G, Says FCC Chairman

    We Want America To Be the Leader in 5G, Says FCC Chairman

    “We want America to be the leader in 5G,” says FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. “We want to put the building blocks in place so that we can have the possible fastest network so all applications can operate at scale. We think America is the best home for this innovation and investment. If we get it right, especially when it comes to a transformative technology like 5G, we’re confident that we will see even more competition and more innovation.”

    Ajit Pai, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, discusses how 5G is important to national competitiveness and national security in an interview on Fox Business:

    We Want America To Be the Leader in 5G

    I think 5G is coming online soon. We already see some American carriers doing trials across the United States. That’s in part because we want America to be the leader in 5G. That’s part of the reason the President and I are doing this event to highlight the early success America has had and to forecast some of the steps we are going to take to continue the momentum. We want America to continue to be the leader in this next generation of wireless connectivity.

    We want to put the building blocks in place so that we can have the possible fastest network so all applications can operate at scale. We think America is the best home for this innovation and investment. If we get it right, especially when it comes to a transformative technology like 5G, we’re confident that we will see even more competition and more innovation. Ultimately, that’s what others will have to think about in terms of the appropriate regulatory framework. There’s no question that there have been serious issues raised about privacy and the like that Congress is wrestling with when it comes to regulation of Silicon Valley.

    5G is Critical to National Competitiveness and National Security

    At the FCC and across the United States government we want to make sure that our networks, especially our next generation 5G networks, are secure and reliable. We do have concerns about any company, any entity, that may have to comply with requests from the intelligence services of a foreign country. That is essentially one of the concerns (regarding Huawei) that have been raised here.

    That’s why at the FCC I proposed banning the use of federal funding extended by the FCC from being used on equipment or services that come from companies that have been determined to present a national security threat. This is especially true as we emerge into this 5G environment where some of the networks could be managed from abroad using various software tools. We want to make sure that our networks are secure. That is the base level of expectation that any government should have.

    We have to think very seriously about what types of equipment and services we include in our networks here. We are working with some of our counterparts around the world to emphasize to them how important it is to think about the security of these networks. The United Kingdom, for example, recently put out a cybersecurity report about that company (Huawei) that I would certainly bring to peoples attention. Ultimately, these networks are very critical for national competitiveness and national security. We need to make sure they are as reliable as possible.

    We Want America To Be the Leader in 5G, Says FCC Chairman Ajit Pai


  • Verizon is First in the World to Turn on 5G – Launches in 2 Cities – Starts Selling Moto 5G Phone, Says CEO

    Verizon is First in the World to Turn on 5G – Launches in 2 Cities – Starts Selling Moto 5G Phone, Says CEO

    “It’s a great day for us to be first in the world with 5G smartphones and turning on the network,” says Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg. “We decided to turn it on today (8 days early). We are selling the Moto 5G phone. The z3 is in the stores. You can have a fantastic experience with the Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband network in these two cities (Minneapolis, Chicago areas) right now.”

    Hans Vestberg, CEO of Verizon, announces the launch of 5G in two cities and the availability of the Moto 5G phone in an interview on CNBC:

    Verizon is First in the World to Turn on 5G

    The team has been working relentlessly to give our customers this fantastic experience in 5G and actually our test is going so well. Why wait when we have some good news for our customers. So we decided to turn it on today (8 days early). We are selling the Moto 5G phone. The z3 is in the stores. You can have a fantastic experience with the Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband network in these two cities (Minneapolis, Chicago areas) right now.

    You’re going to see many more handsets with 5G coming out this year. We have announced two that we will have in the first half of the year. The Motorola, of course, is the one we are going with right now and we’re going to have a Samsung a little bit later in this quarter. That’s the two and then we have others coming in the second half. We’re going to see more 5G phones than probably were expected. We have at least a good relationship with all of those guys.

    5G Rolling Out in Minneapolis and Chicago

    When it comes to our rollout we are starting with these two cities right now. We’re going to do more than 30 markets this year and we’re working in all these markets right now. We’re going to turn them up as soon as they’re ready. Then we feel that we can give the experience that we want to give to our customers when it comes to 5G, meaning real 5G, and at the same time have the most reliable 4G network.

    We think a lot about our customers and how we’re going to treat them. It’s a great day for us to be first in the world with 5G smartphones and turning on the network. I think that says a lot about the team that I have around me and the partners we have. We’re going to do a lot about education around it. Our stores have been trained now to explain what see you can do with it and, of course, we also talked about the ultra-wideband.

    You’re Going to See So Much Innovation With 5G

    We’re going to have speeds up to 1 gigabit per second compared to around of 50 megabits per second in 4G. It’s 20 times faster when you’re in the 5G zone. Of course, you can do so much with it at the same time. You’re going to have download speeds up to 300 megabits per second which means that it can take down things much quicker. The latencies will be some 30 milliseconds compared to 100 today.

    And that’s just a start of 5G. What we saw in 4G was enormous innovation when you see these type of capabilities coming out on a network. You’re going to see so much innovation on 5G. I said it before. it’s not a small sort of evolution from 4G, it’s a quantum leap going to 5G from 4G. You’re going to see a lot of innovation and new applications coming on top of the 5G networks.

    Verizon is First in the World to Turn on 5G, Says Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg


  • China Trying to Become an Economic Hegemon for the 21st Century

    China Trying to Become an Economic Hegemon for the 21st Century

    “This is deeper than trade,” says Steve Bannon, former White House Chief Strategist. “It’s a combination of One Belt One Road, which is this infrastructure project to unite the Eurasian landmass. It’s Made in China 2025, which is the convergence of advanced chip design, artificial intelligence, and robotics, where they will take over advanced manufacturing. Then it’s Huawei and the 5G rollout. The convergence of all three of those are trying to make China an economic hegemon for the 21st century.

    Steve Bannon, former White House Chief Strategist, discusses in an interview on CNBC the true objective of the Chinese in trying to economically dominate the world through whatever means necessary which is why current trade negotiations are so important to US prosperity going forward:

    China Trying to Become an Economic Hegemon

    I’m not so sure how close we are (in a trade deal with China). I mean CNBC’s interview with Larry Kudlow where Larry Kudlow said last week that Lighthizer had to read the riot act to some of the Chinese about some of the red lines that had come back on the turn on the documents. You’ve got the hawks in China that really hunkered down and said we don’t know if we need to deal with the Americans.

    Remember this is deeper than trade. It’s a combination of One Belt One Road, which is this infrastructure project to unite the Eurasian landmass. It’s Made in China 2025, which is the convergence of advanced chip design, artificial intelligence, and robotics, where they will take over advanced manufacturing. Then it’s Huawei and the 5G rollout. The convergence of all three of those are trying to make China an economic hegemon for the 21st century and essentially use their totalitarian mercantilist system to replace free-market capitalism of the industrial democracies.

    US Doesn’t Understand the Economic War the Chinese Are Running

    That’s why I was in Japan invited by the Liberal Democratic Party to go around Japan and give these lectures I give on China. It’s 100% they’re saying that the United States and Europe don’t quite understand yet the economic war that the Chinese are running on the West. This is not just about trade. It’s not about soybeans. That’s why Lighthizer, the senior partner of Skadden, Arps, who is President Trump’s right-hand man on this is so important.

    This is about fundamental structural changes to the core of the Chinese economy to really integrate it into the industrial democracies. I think that this thing could go on for a long time. I actually happen to think before you get to a deal I think you’re enough to put the punitive tariffs up to 25 percent to bring the Chinese really to the table to have that types of changes that President Trump has really been hammering on since the day he started.


  • We Expect To See the Peak of 5G In 2023, Says Ranplan Wireless CEO

    We Expect To See the Peak of 5G In 2023, Says Ranplan Wireless CEO

    “With respect to rollouts, what we expect, and there has been a lot of trials going on and a lot of demonstrations going on, but the initial trials were in-building last year,” says Alastair Williamson, CEO of Ranplan Wireless. “We expect these to accelerate in 2019 and we expect to see the peak of 5G coming through in about 2023.”

    Alastair Williamson, CEO of Ranplan Wireless, discusses the complex challenges of rolling out 5G in an interview with RCR Wireless News:

    We Expect To See the Peak of 5G In 2023

    5G was the main theme in Mobile World Congress 2019. That was not just with operators, but also with vendors. Let’s put it into perspective from where we come from and look at the 5G themes with respect to wireless network planning. What’s become apparent is that all the initial deployments in 5G are going to be within buildings and in dense urban areas, which is a key focus for Ranplan.

    Our tool is designed for planning and building wireless networks in conjunction with outdoor urban environments. With respect to rollouts, what we expect, and there has been a lot of trials going on and a lot of demonstrations going on, but the initial trials were in-building last year. We expect these to accelerate in 2019 and we expect to see the peak of 5G coming through in about 2023.

    Complex Challenges to a 5G Rollout

    Just to focus on the Japanese opportunity, we did secure a large order in Japan through our reseller early this year. The main challenges that operators are going to face when it comes to rolling out 5G networks can really be split into two different categories. The first challenge is 5G is complex. There is new feature functionality that is being brought into 5G such as beamforming and massive MIMO. These are all new capabilities that the planning tool has to cope with. We’ve invested a lot of money in 2018 to get our tool 5G ready so we’re compliant with all the 5G NR standards. We can actually demonstrate that capability now and customers are actually using our tool now to deploy trial 5G networks.

    The second complexity that our customers taught us about is how to plan networks in the millimeter wave space, so 28 gigahertz and above. Radio waves interact very differently the higher spectrums compared with traditional lower spectrums that mobile networks have been deployed in, so at Ranplan we’ve developed a propagation engine and that allows you to propagate all the way up to about 60 gigahertz. We’re way into the millimeter wave space. From a propagation perspective, we can support these high frequencies. We’ve also done a lot of work on understanding how those radio waves interact with different materials such as concrete, brick, wood, trees, people, and water. We’ve done all of that investigative research and we’ve put that information into our tool to allow us to actually predict very accurate 5G planning.

    More 5G Focus on Public Safety and Industrial IoT Markets

    We repositioned our products a bit at Mobile World Congress to specifically fit to specific markets. Ranplan Professional is still our flagship products allows you to design in-building wireless networks in conjunction with dense urban outdoor wireless networks. But we also launched a new product called Ranplan In-Building where we’ve taken the outdoor capability away from it and it focuses solely on customers who just want to design and plan in-building. wireless networks. We also launched another product called Ranplan In-Building Light which is focusing on the public safety market. We took a lot of the feature functionality that was not required for public Safety and put in new feature functionality that the public safety market demands and we launched that product at Mobile World Congress 2019.

    Our plans for 2019 I split that into two separate areas with a look at the business first and then the market. In 2018 we doubled our revenues from 2017. In 2019, we’ve already received purchase orders which are in excess of our total 2018 revenue. From a business perspective it is about keeping that momentum going. From a market perspective, a lot of our focus has been in Japan, the US, South Korea, and Asia-Pac We’re going to continue that focus but we’re also going to put a lot more focus onto public safety and a lot more focus on the Industrial Internet of Things. There’s a real pent up demand in those markets to look at a planning tool to help roll these networks out.