Trials/ Deployment/ Roll out

MTN SA Launches C-band 5G Trial with Huawei

South African mobile operator MTN, together with Huawei launched their C-band 5G trial as part of the operator’s network evolution plan towards 5G

C-band, the so-called ‘golden band’ for 5G spectrum, is a valuable slice of spectrum and comprises of a frequency range of around 3.3 – 3.8GHz

O2 5G technology to be used for driverless trials in London

(Source- Smartcitiesworld)

Mobile network operator O2 enabled London’s Smart Mobility Living Lab (SMLL) to use its 5G technology to test driverless vehicles on roads

O2 said the network will allow large amounts of data, including 4K video, to transmit almost instantly to intelligent cloud-based transport systems, which are expected to improve road safety and help to monitor and manage traffic flow.

Orange’s Trial on ZTE’s 5G Standalone Core Ahead of Network Deployments

Orange trialed ZTE’s 5G standalone core ahead of network deployments

Orange Plans to Deploy 5G in Its Major Markets in 2020, but 5G Standalone Core will be Required to Deliver the Complex 5G Use Cases

T-Mobile’s nationwide 600 MHz 5G network will launch on December 6^th in US

T-Mobile’s nationwide 5G network — built on the company’s 600 MHz band of spectrum — will be launched on December 6

According to T-Mobile’s CEO, the network will cover 200 million customers when it launches and eventually hit speeds of up to 450 Mbps, 10 times faster than its current LTE speeds

Ericsson, Qualcomm complete 5G DSS call with Swisscom

Ericsson and Qualcomm completed the first over-the-air 5G data call using dynamic spectrum sharing with partner Swisscom in Switzerland.

Swisscom introduced 5G in Switzerland in April using 3.6 GHz spectrum, with Ericsson as its sole 5G equipment vendor.

Samsung, HPE, Openet demonstrate 5G standalone core

Samsung, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and Openet have collaborated on a 5G Standalone (SA) Core demonstrating multivendor interoperability.

With this multi-vendor solution, Samsung’s 5G SA Core enables operators to select innovative network functions offered by numerous IT vendors.

Qualcomm Forecasts 200 Million 5G Phones in 2020

Qualcomm said it expects 175 million to 225 million 5G smartphones to be shipped in 2020

Global shipments of new 3G, 4G, and 5G devices should be around 1.75 billion to 1.85 billion units in 2020, an increase of 3% in the first half of the year.

Product Launch

Kakao launches its first 5G smartphone

(Source- ZDnet)

South Korean chat company Kakao has launched its first 5G smartphone. It was developed by Stage Five, a 5G service affiliate of Kakao, and local smart device maker Infomark.

The smartphone, called Stage 5G, is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 5G and has a triple rear camera, a 6.47-inch FHD Plus Display, 6GB of RAM, 128GB of internal memory, as well as wireless charging.

Regulatory

Hong Kong 5G auctions raise $244M

Hong Kong completed the last of three 5G spectrum auctions, with operators spending a combined HKD665.1 million ($85 million) on 100MHz of 3.3GHz airwaves.

HKT and Hutchison Telecommunications Hong Kong each paid HKD199.5 million for 30MHz of the mid-band 5G spectrum, while China Mobile Hong Kong and SmarTone forked out HKD133 million apiece on 20MHz.

Business/ Partnerships/ Collaborations

 Vivo has more than half of China’s 5G smartphone market

(Source-Abacus)

According to IDC, as of September, China shipped about 485,000 5G smartphones. In the third quarter, Vivo alone accounted for 54.3% of all 5G smartphones shipped in China, according to the report.

Samsung came in second with 29% of the market. Huawei and Xiaomi were the third and fourth with 9.5% and 4.6% respectively.

Ericsson and OPPO strengthen 5G collaboration

(Source-Ericsson)

Ericsson and OPPO have established a joint lab in Shenzhen, China, focusing on 5G innovation

In February 2019, Ericsson and OPPO signed a global patent license agreement. Since the third quarter of 2018, the two partners have been running joint 5G tests on OPPO’s 5G handset and Ericsson’s 5G infrastructure with local operator partners in Sweden, Germany and China as part of an effort to accelerate the commercial availability of 5G products