During Qualcomm's 4G/5G Summit in Hong Kong, the company announced a collaboration with US telecom company Verizon, and Novatel Wireless, an Inseego company, to help move the mobile ecosystem towards faster validation and commercialization of 5G NR mmWave technologies, supporting a full-scale commercial network deployment before the end of the decade.
The companies announced plans to collaborate on 5G New Radio (NR) millimeter wave (mmWave) technology development and over-the air field trials based on the 5G NR Release-15 specifications being developed by 3GPP - the global 5G standard. They plan to focus on 5G NR operation in 28 GHz and 39 GHz mmWave spectrum bands, showcasing advanced 5G NR technologies to efficiently achieve robust multi-gigabit per second data rates with mobility at significantly lower latencies than today's networks.
"We have tremendous excitement around 5G and today we made a great announcement - a commitment to driving the 5G ecosystem," said Atish Gude, SVP Corporate Strategy, Verizon, speaking at the summit. "We have a great history of partnership [with Qualcomm]. We have a drive with Qualcomm to accelerate field trials, accelerate 5G's commercial launch, and this just shows our commitment to 5G and millimeter wave. We've very excited about this development."
The technologies are expected to be critical to meeting the increasing connectivity requirements for emerging consumer mobile and fixed wireless broadband experiences such as streaming high-definition video, immersive virtual/augmented reality, and connected cloud computing. "We think all of these will drive not only new revenue for us in the industry in fixed but also in mobile services, and we're very excited about that," said Mr. Gude.
The three companies plan on delivering a common 5G NR mmWave technology platform for mobile and home broadband wireless access, supporting a 5G NR migration path for Verizon's early 5G fixed wireless access deployments and trials based on the 5G-Technology Forum specifications.
"Verizon's investment in mmWave spectrum has given us the flexibility to pursue a first-of its kind fixed wireless broadband customer trial, which has been invaluable in advancing our expertise in the deployment of mmWave technology," said Ed Chan, SVP, Verizon Technology Strategy & Planning. "With the collaboration we're announcing today, we are taking the next logical step towards extending our leadership position in the advancement of 5G, part of the Verizon Intelligent Edge Network."
One of the fundamental advantages of New Radio 5G technology is that you get very low latency, said Christiano Amon, EVP, Qualcomm Technologies. This concept of being "cloud connected" having all your data in the cloud takes things to "a whole new level" he said. Having 1 millisecond speeds removes all boundaries.
"Qualcomm Technologies is committed to delivering 5G NR mmWave technologies to meet the ever-increasing connectivity requirements for enhanced mobile broadband experiences," said Joe Glynn, vice president, business development, Qualcomm Technologies. "We are excited to collaborate with Verizon in making 5G NR mmWave a commercial reality for mobile devices, including fixed wireless home routers, mobile hotspots, tablets and smartphones."
