5G Focus is a weekly global feature including notable 5G trials, launches, use cases and major equipment supply contracts. It also features in-depth analysis of strategies, expansion plans, business models and other related initiatives.
This edition features news on AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc.'s decision to postpone their planned rollout of a new 5G frequency band over regulatory concerns, and Telstra Corp. Ltd.'s extended network and telecom services contract with the Australian defense department.
Must read
DISH facing rising 5G expenses amid Las Vegas network delays, tower leases
Despite rising 5G network costs and a longer-than-anticipated Las Vegas network rollout, DISH Network Corp. executives say the satellite operator is building its next-generation 5G network more cost-effectively than competitors.
Qualcomm leads other major US chipmakers in setting net-zero goal
Qualcomm Inc. President and CEO Cristiano Amon said 5G technologies and products will help meet its emissions goals and drive an "environmentally sustainable future."
Conference Chatter: Asia's 'sleeping giants' are waking up as VC activity soars
Venture-capital investors in China are now focusing on 5G, consumer tech and hardware companies, a KPMG China partner said at the Cyberport Venture Capital Forum.
US AND CANADA
* Canadian cloud, colocation and connectivity services provider TeraGo Inc. teamed up with McMaster University to build and roll out a university-based 5G millimeter wave private network for research use. A 5G mmWave private network is expected to deliver higher speeds and lower latency.
* AT&T and Verizon agreed to delay their planned Dec. 5 rollout of a new 5G frequency band so they can work with the Federal Aviation Administration to address concerns about potential interference with key cockpit safety systems, Dow Jones Newswires reported, citing one of the cellular carriers and people familiar with the matter.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* The Japanese government is seeking to amend a law that applies to companies developing 5G wireless technology, which would enable subsidies for the construction of new domestic semiconductor plants such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd.'s planned Kumamoto Prefecture facility, Nikkei Asia reported.
* The shareholders of Australia's 5G Networks Ltd. approved the merger between the telco operator and digital services provider Webcentral Group Ltd.
* Singaporean operator StarHub Ltd. and Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. teamed up to launch a 5G multi-access edge computing service for enterprises and government clients. The new service can be used in artificial intelligence, automation, data analytics and machine-learning applications, as well as in "mission critical communications."
* Telstra renewed its contract to provide critical network and telecommunications services to the Australian Department of Defence, in a deal worth more than A$1 billion. The five-year deal will allow Telstra to roll out 5G capability for defense personnel.
EUROPE, MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* French operators deployed 1,135 5G cell sites across mainland France in October, Telecompaper reported, citing spectrum regulator ANFR. The figure brings the total number of 5G cell sites in the country to 19,824 as of Nov. 1.
* Vodafone Italia SpA partnered with the San Raffaele hospital in Milan, Italy, to perform a new telesurgery trial with the use of a 5G network and augmented-reality software, Telecompaper reported. Local startup Artiness SRL provided a remote proctoring system for the trial.
* Vodafone Egypt is in talks with Egypt's National Telecom Regulatory Authority to trial 5G services in the country's New Administrative Capital, Daily News (Egypt) reported, citing company CEO Mohamed Abdullah.
* Telia Norway's 5G coverage reached 2 million subscribers. The Telia Co. AB unit aims to cover about half of Norway's population by the end of the year with its 5G network and to have a national 5G network by 2023.
* Liberty Global PLC unit UPC Poland introduced 5G services to its subscribers, Broadband TV News reported.
* Nigerian telecom operators urged the Nigerian Communications Commission to review its draft terms for its upcoming 5G spectrum auction on Dec. 13, ThisDay reported. The commission pegged the spectrum reserve price at 75 billion Nigerian naira and was considering 10-year licenses for the frequencies. The telcos, however, wanted the licenses' duration to run for 20 years and asked to consider the current exchange rate in determining the reserve price.
* Poland's telco regulator wants to set aside frequencies in the 3.41 GHz to 3.48 GHz band and several hundreds of megahertz in the 26 GHz to 28 GHz band for public 5G networks, Telecompaper reported, citing the regulator's chairman, Jacek Oko.
Featured research
Technology: Global 5G Survey: Network upgrades, service footprints escalate in next 3 years: While 5G hype continues to dominate wireless operator marketing campaigns, actual 5G service deployments remain in the relatively early stages, according to Kagan's third annual B2B 5G survey.
Wireless Investor: AT&T, Verizon 5G rollouts run into Federal Aviation Administration turbulence: C-band spectrum is the linchpin for the 5G strategies of Verizon and AT&T, but the carriers' deployment plans are now temporarily grounded due to Federal Aviation Administration concern about potential interference with aircraft safety systems.
Global Multichannel: Pay TV is dead; long live pay TV: Europe's shifting TV powerplays: The focus on convergent bundles is driving recent M&A activity, with the strategic shift to building out fiber and 5G connectivity being a priority.
Global Multichannel: Operators bet on streaming video as pay TV penetration declines worldwide: Evolving telco video strategies, including moving away from traditional pay TV, is part of a larger trend to reduce costs and focus exclusively on connectivity and fixed-mobile convergence, particularly high revenue fiber and 5G services.
Technology: Recent deals indicate 5G build-out will be a 'killer app' for cloud native: A radical shift in network service delivery architecture and approach – to cloud-native and DevOps models – is necessary to fully take advantage of 5G capabilities today and in the future.
Wireless Investor: Singapore mobile projections, 2021-2031: Singapore's telecom regulator auctioned new 5G spectrum in June 2020, which was then followed by commercial 5G service launches from the "Big Three" mobile operators.
Kagan is a media research group within S&P Global Market Intelligence's TMT offering, providing exclusive research and commentary.
Some external links may require a subscription. Links are current as of publication time, and we are not responsible if those links are unavailable later.
