5G is coming! It is, in fact, available already in some small tech players in major cities in the United States (U.S.) at present. Qualcomm (QCOM) President Cristiano Amon claimed that the successor to the present-time 4G LTE wireless connectivity is about to be up and running in all major areas by 2020. The company official added, they are only at the beginning of a new transition in technology. And, Amon continued, similar to any technology evolution, networks need to be developed, and they to have coverage.
Despite its beginning phase, the Qualcomm president said, the good thing about this time is that, the company accelerated 5G by the coming year, and what he calls the "device ecosystem is ready." Nevertheless, Amon admitted, it would take time before this new wireless connectivity attains the ubiquity of 4G LTE connections today.
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More Phones to Come
According to the firm's head, Qualcomm has a large amount of skin in the 5G arena. The company, which develops chips and modems for smartphones, has been struggling as users hold on to their mobile devices longer. However, 5G might need all users to give up and retire their 4G-enabled phones to give way to the latest development in connectivity.
During the investor day held in New York, Qualcomm said there would be around 450 million 5G-enabled smartphones to come out in the market in 2021. More so, there would be as many as 750 million more to be sold in 2022. Gartner, Inc. reports that in 2018, 1.6 billion smartphones were sold globally. At present, there's only a small number of smartphones on the market that are running on 5G wireless connectivity.
More Time for 5G to Roll Out Nationwide
Despite its promise of a nationwide rollout for 5G technology, Qualcomm head said it would take time for 5G to roll out nationwide. More so, each of the bit 4 players in telecommunications, which will be considered as the Big 3 once Sprint and T-Mobile come in complete merging, is working for the rollout of 5G the fastest they can to catch the carrier's title with the largest 5G network. Again, according to the tech expert, the process is going to take some time.
Nevertheless, Amon assured, the rollout of 5G could be speedier than what had been witnessed out of the carriers as they developed and rolled out their 4G networks. The Qualcomm boss emphasized, they just launched, and the coverage areas were currently being built. However, he added, "the transition is faster than what we saw with 4G."
