5G is bound to be a big topic in 2017, and it’s going to be a big one throughout Mobile World Congress this week. Samsung announced at their press conference in Barcelona today, that they have an end-to-end portfolio of 5G mobile network products and solutions. They will be showcasing products that include consumer devices for fixed wireless access, a 5G Radio base station, Next-Generation Core Network infrastructure and much more at their booth throughout MWC this week. Samsung also announced that they already have pre-commercial versions of this equipment running on trial networks around the world. Including some on Verizon’s trial network right now, which Verizon got on stage and said that that at MWC18 they expect to announce a 5G-capable smartphone with Samsung.
Samsung’s EVP and Head of Next Generation Communications Business Team, Paul Kyungwhoon Cheun stated that “Samsung has been focused on 5G R&D for nearly half a decade, and this portfolio launch represents the culmination of a lot of hard work and industry engagement.” Samsung isn’t the only one that has been working on 5G for nearly half a decade, other manufacturers but also carriers like Verizon, Vodafone, AT&T and others have also been getting started with 5G, which the first 5G networks are expected to roll out this decade.
Much like 4G was the next evolution of the mobile network, so is 5G. But many companies believe that 5G is going to be more than your typical mobile network. A lot of companies believe that it will replace your current fiber that is used for home internet from your ISP. It’s also going to be a big deal for things like IoT, as they can use much less bandwidth than other devices like smartphones, and not hog up the spectrum like they currently do with 4G LTE. There will actually be quite a few 5G demos being shown off at Mobile World Congress this week in Barcelona, giving the media the first real look at what 5G is going to be like in the next few years. Of course, it won’t be a real-world situation, seeing as you’ll only have a handful of people connected, as opposed to millions of devices, like 4G networks do today.
