Verizon, Samsung And The Coming 5G War
Communication Service Providers look to 5G for new revenue growth. Equipment makers race to fulfill demand but competition is steep. Image source: Shutterstock
Massive smartphone adoption and increased use of rich media services, such as video and gaming, force communication service providers (CSPs) to continually upgrade to new wireless networking technologies. Across the globe, CSPs are testing 5G technology as a way to improve performance and deliver new wirelessly-enabled use cases with larger pipes and lower latency. 5G, touted as beneficial for autonomous vehicle use cases, enables far more accessible and equally compelling near-term applications. A 5G network allows fixed wireless broadband to the home, telemedicine, video inspection and virtual reality for training and collaborative design.
A global battle of the titans begins
There's a global race for 5G network developments as countries count on 5G to improve commerce and citizen's lives with broadband for all and smart cities. There are numerous articles about how China and other Asian markets are dominating the 5G race. However, it's still too early to declare a winner when most operators are merely completing early technology trials. What's certain is CSPs will need 5G networks to support a neverending need for faster, mission-critical broadband.
This quest for advanced networks has breathed new life into the business of large CSP vendors such as Ericcson, Nokia and Huawei. But just when these companies thought they'd hit the gravy train with 5G upgrades, Samsung stepped in to change up the competitive landscape.
In January, Verizon selected Samsung for first 5G commercial launch in Sacramento, California. At the Mobile World Congress show in February, Samsung shared that Verizon would also use Samsung gear for its 4G LTE Open RAN initiative that allows the provider to interwork with other ecosystem providers. Samsung will provide its Remote Radio Heads (RRHs) and Baseband Units (BBUs) to Verizon to support scalability for Verizon's LTE Advanced capabilities as well as current CAT-M and future Narrow Band IOT platforms.
Several items are interesting about these two announcements. First, a win the size of Verizon shows that Samsung has what it takes to be a tier 1 network equipment provider on the global stage. Verizon will be displacing a portion of its existing 4G LTE equipment with Samsung gear. It's a blow to incumbent network equipment manufacturers that would've typically gained this business. Why did Verizon choose another provider? While price always plays in the mix, a service provider won't introduce a vendor on price alone. Adding a vendor to the network is synonymous with meeting new equipment requirements.
Second, it's a wake-up call for those bidding for 5G networks that there's another competitor on the horizon. Samsung's apparently entering the race at the right time as operators across the globe, including AT&T, NTT DoCoMo, Sprint USA, Telstra, T-Mobile, and SK Telecom have plans support 5G services. In fact, Asian markets are leading the charge in 5G, providing both Huawei and Samsung with a potential edge.
Not surprisingly, Samsung's been active in KDDI and SK Telecom trials. Samsung and SK Telecom announced the successful completion of world's first 4G LTE and 5G end-to-end network interworking trial in a real outdoor environment in Seoul. Samsung and KDDI also completed a 5G demonstration on a moving train traveling at over 100 km/hour (over 60 mph). Meanwhile, Huawei has seen success in China but according to Reuters has signed 25 Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) with telecom operators such as Britain’s BT, Bell Canada (BCE), France’s Orange Germany’s Deutsche Telekom and global player Vodafone.
">Communication Service Providers look to 5G for new revenue growth. Equipment makers race to fulfill demand but competition is steep. Image source: Shutterstock
Massive smartphone adoption and increased use of rich media services, such as video and gaming, force communication service providers (CSPs) to continually upgrade to new wireless networking technologies. Across the globe, CSPs are testing 5G technology as a way to improve performance and deliver new wirelessly-enabled use cases with larger pipes and lower latency. 5G, touted as beneficial for autonomous vehicle use cases, enables far more accessible and equally compelling near-term applications. A 5G network allows fixed wireless broadband to the home, telemedicine, video inspection and virtual reality for training and collaborative design.
A global battle of the titans begins
There's a global race for 5G network developments as countries count on 5G to improve commerce and citizen's lives with broadband for all and smart cities. There are numerous articles about how China and other Asian markets are dominating the 5G race. However, it's still too early to declare a winner when most operators are merely completing early technology trials. What's certain is CSPs will need 5G networks to support a neverending need for faster, mission-critical broadband.
This quest for advanced networks has breathed new life into the business of large CSP vendors such as Ericcson, Nokia and Huawei. But just when these companies thought they'd hit the gravy train with 5G upgrades, Samsung stepped in to change up the competitive landscape.
In January, Verizon selected Samsung for first 5G commercial launch in Sacramento, California. At the Mobile World Congress show in February, Samsung shared that Verizon would also use Samsung gear for its 4G LTE Open RAN initiative that allows the provider to interwork with other ecosystem providers. Samsung will provide its Remote Radio Heads (RRHs) and Baseband Units (BBUs) to Verizon to support scalability for Verizon's LTE Advanced capabilities as well as current CAT-M and future Narrow Band IOT platforms.
Several items are interesting about these two announcements. First, a win the size of Verizon shows that Samsung has what it takes to be a tier 1 network equipment provider on the global stage. Verizon will be displacing a portion of its existing 4G LTE equipment with Samsung gear. It's a blow to incumbent network equipment manufacturers that would've typically gained this business. Why did Verizon choose another provider? While price always plays in the mix, a service provider won't introduce a vendor on price alone. Adding a vendor to the network is synonymous with meeting new equipment requirements.
Second, it's a wake-up call for those bidding for 5G networks that there's another competitor on the horizon. Samsung's apparently entering the race at the right time as operators across the globe, including AT&T, NTT DoCoMo, Sprint USA, Telstra, T-Mobile, and SK Telecom have plans support 5G services. In fact, Asian markets are leading the charge in 5G, providing both Huawei and Samsung with a potential edge.
Not surprisingly, Samsung's been active in KDDI and SK Telecom trials. Samsung and SK Telecom announced the successful completion of world's first 4G LTE and 5G end-to-end network interworking trial in a real outdoor environment in Seoul. Samsung and KDDI also completed a 5G demonstration on a moving train traveling at over 100 km/hour (over 60 mph). Meanwhile, Huawei has seen success in China but according to Reuters has signed 25 Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) with telecom operators such as Britain’s BT, Bell Canada (BCE), France’s Orange Germany’s Deutsche Telekom and global player Vodafone.
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