Evaulation_Engineering_March_2020 - 34

TECHNOLOGY INSIGHTS

5G ROLLS INTO 2020
year. Now we're heading into 5G, then 6G,
then 7G-it will keep getting faster and
more convenient. We'll see more jobs,
more wealth, more services for customers.
... 5G is moving into healthcare, automotive, retail-it's the core of an enormous
growth engine that will continue to fuel
the economy and worldwide."2
Here are some recent news items on
the subject:

manufacturers may not be the key stakeholders for tomorrow's networks, or that
merger and acquisition activity is imminent in the 5G antenna market."
Several new startups in the cellular
and 5G antenna listed by ABI Research
include Airrays, Anokiwave, Artemis,
Fractal Antennas, Fractus Antennas,
Gapwaves, Maja Systems, Metawave,
Movandi, Pabellon, Pivotal Commware,
Ericsson with its Radio Stripes concept,
and Satixfy. Some of them have pivoted
to address the 5G space while new entrants are now addressing new types of
innovation, mostly in the United States
with mmWave. 3

New breed of startups stirring
up the 5G antenna market

U.S. bill earmarks $1 billion
subsidy to spur 5G race

U.S. investment and leadership is an
indication of taking a lead in mmWave
5G networks in terms of intellectual
property, according to a press release
by global tech market advisory firm ABI
Research. The release states that "a new
breed of startups and smaller companies
may become serious contenders in the
global patent war for the next wave of
5G networks."
"Major innovation is happening across
the market for 5G and cellular antennas
as mobile operators start to focus on
5G, active antennas, and mmWave" said
Dimitris Mavrakis, research director at
ABI Research. "This means that incumbent infrastructure vendors and antenna

In January, a bipartisan group of national
security senators introduced legislation to
stimulate U.S. innovation in the race for 5G.
The bill would provide more than $1 billion
to invest in alternatives to Chinese equipment providers Huawei and ZTE. Huawei
claims to have shipped 6.9 million units of
5G smartphones as of December 2019.
"Every month that the U.S. does nothing, Huawei stands poised to become the
cheapest, fastest, most ubiquitous global
provider of 5G, while U.S. and Western
companies and workers lose out on market
share and jobs. Widespread adoption of 5G
technology has the potential to unleash
sweeping effects for the future of internetconnected devices, individual data security, and national security. It is imperative that Congress address the complex
security and competitiveness challenges
that Chinese-directed telecommunication
companies pose," said Sen. Mark R. Warner
(D-VA), in a press release. "We need to
move beyond observing the problem to
providing alternatives for U.S. and foreign
network operators."4

By Ken Cormier, Managing Editor

The long-touted 5G revolution hasn't
impacted the telecommunications
industry as anticipated yet, but industry
experts are saying that 2020 is the breakout
year, as 5G-capable phones and networks
become more available to consumers.
The seemingly sluggish splash that 5G
has been making is vastly more energetic
than the introduction of 4G a decade ago.
According to Qualcomm, more than 40
mobile network providers inaugurated
5G service in 2019, in contrast with four
providers launching 4G service during
its first year.
T-Mobile came out with what it
termed the first nationwide 5G network
in December, and the other three of the
Big Four are saying they will follow suit
this year. 5G-accessible phone models are
presently pricey-more than $750-but
are expected to be more modestly priced
in the future. Of course, 5G, with its blazing data speeds and lower latency, isn't
just about phones-it's about laptops,
tablets, autonomous vehicles, the IoT, and
"smart cities"1 festooned with sensors.
Wireless telecom analyst Jeff Kagan
said in an interview with Fox Business,
"Smartphone purchases grow every year,
and people use them more and more every

REFERENCES

1. ConsumerReports.org, "What's Next For 5G?"
Jan. 6, 2020.
2. Fox Business, "Anti-5G Group Plans Global
Protest," Jan. 21, 2020.
3. abiresearch.com, "A New Breed Of Startups
Are Stirring Up The 5G Antenna Market,"
Jan. 9, 2020.
4. warner.senate.gov, "National Security
Senators Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to
Develop 5G Alternatives to Huawei," Jan.
14, 2020.

EVALUATION ENGINEERING MARCH 2020

http://www.ConsumerReports.org http://www.abiresearch.com http://warner.senate.gov

Evaulation_Engineering_March_2020

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