Rolling out the fifth generation (5G) cellular mobile technology is a multibillion-dollar revolution which will have an everlasting effect on human society. Many countries want to participate in this revolution and race for the throne is becoming more and more intense. World’s biggest superpowers U.S. and China, have already locked horns.
In the U.S, Verizon has activated its latest 5G network in Chicago and Minneapolis on April 2019. AT&T also selected Mobile 5G for customers in 19 cities. T-Mobile to commercially launch 5G services in the second half of 2019, and U.S. wide coverage is expected in 2020.
In China, state-owned mobile carrier China Mobile has awarded half of its 5G network equipment contracts to Huawei Technologies. Under the terms of these agreements, Huawei will provide 49% of the MME/SGSN equipment and 54% of the SAE-GW/GGSN equipment to China Mobile. While Ericsson and Nokia are awarded 34 percent and 12% of the MME/SGSN equipment orders, as well as 34% and 9% of the SAE-GW/GGSN orders, respectively. ZTE secured 5% of the MME and 3% of the SAE 5G equipment orders.
As worldwide spectrum auction and 5G testings are taking place, challenges for implementing 5G services have started to emerge. The optimal space allocation for new 5G towers is a substantial issue for policymakers. Tech companies like Samsung have already testing and using 5G technologies within their Seoul based campus and we believe other tech giants are also using 5G, which is confined to their own usages, but until 5G becomes a global standard – commercially viability will not be fully realized.
*If Applicable.