Qualcomm Inc said at the Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona it expects to work with more than 40 carriers and telecommunications gear providers that have committed to using the faster variant of 5G networking technology.
Fifth-generation networks use a combination of technologies. The lower frequency version, called “sub-6” by industry insiders, travels well over long distances but is only somewhat faster than previous networks. The fastest version uses higher frequencies and is called “millimeter wave” used by Qualcomm, one of the world’s biggest suppliers of wireless data chips for smartphones.
Qualcomm said that more than 40 carriers and gear makers have committed to using the faster technology in some form. Among them are China’s China Unicom, Chunghwa Telecom Company Ltd and Fibocom Wireless Inc, as well as Germany’s Deutsche Telekom and Australia’s Telstra Corp.
The millimeter wave technology is most useful in dense areas where many people are trying to connect to mobile networks at once, such as sports arenas where many fans are trying to stream video to their social networks.
“We actually haven’t see a whole lot of millimeter wave outside U.S. and Japan, and some limited deployments in Europe and Korea so far, but that’s expanding quite rapidly,” Durga Malladi, Qualcomm’s senior vice president and general manager of 5G technologies, said at a press briefing before the event.
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