Verizon Selects Samsung for First “5G” Fixed Wireless Broadband Deployment in 2018

Verizon has chosen Samsung Electronics as a major supplier in the U.S. telco’s push to offer high speed fixed access internet and other services over its wireless network. Financial terms of this “5G” business relationship weren’t disclosed.  Samsung’s “5G” Fixed Wireless Access network products (including 5G home routers and 5G Radio Access units) will be used for commercial deployments.

Verizon says its “5G” fixed access network will launch in the second half of this year in Sacramento, CA, which is more than two full years before ITU-R WP5D completes its IMT 2020 standards.  Verizon plans to add the same “5G” fixed broadband access service in four other U.S. markets later in 2018.  It will use cellular antennas to beam high-speed internet into consumers’ homes. Samsung will make network equipment for Verizon—including the small boxes that will sit inside each home, receiving the signal and translating it into WiFi— the companies said Wednesday, January 3, 2018.  Verizon said last month it would also use “5G” network equipment made by Ericsson for commercial launches in other U.S. markets.

Verizon estimates the market opportunity for initial 5G residential broadband services to be approximately 30 million households nationwide. In addition, it says that the 5G commercial launch will not have a material impact on its consolidated Capex in 2018 and that it expects its full-year 2018 capital spending program to be consistent with the past several years.

Last year, Verizon began “5G” fixed access trials, focused on home broadband service, in 11 U.S. markets from New Jersey to California. Samsung will provide network gear for Verizon’s launch in Sacramento, where customers will be offered the option of purchasing the faster wireless access capability.  Verizon and Samsung collaborated on 5G trials in parts of California, Georgia, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Michigan, Texas, and Washington, D.C.  Verizon and Samsung said that those trials revealed that a single 5G radio could reach the 19th floor of a multi-dwelling unit, and that broadband service was achieved using line of sight, partial Line of Sight (LOS) and even non-LOS connections. They also claimed that “environmental factors” such as rain and snow, did not interrupt “5G” based broadband service.

“The industry has been discussing 5G connectivity for years, and through our joint collaboration with partners like Samsung, we are beginning to make it a reality for our customers,” Ed Chan, chief technology architect and network planning at Verizon, said in a statement. “Sacramento is an ideal place to begin deploying 5G broadband services, providing a progressive environment for creating future use cases.”

“Together with Verizon, we have explored the vast potential of 5G through market trials across the U.S.,” added Mark Louison, SVP and GM, networks division, at Samsung Electronics America. “At the same time, Samsung applied lessons learned from these real-world trials to ensure that our complete end-to-end 5G portfolio is ready for commercial service. We are delighted to work with Verizon on this journey to create unprecedented user experiences powered by 5G.”

[Note that there’s been no mention of when “5G” mobile service might be available from Verizon.]

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“5G” carries the potential to disrupt the broadband fixed access market for triple play services.  That market is currently dominated by cable/MSO providers like Comcast Corp. and Charter Communications Inc, but AT&T is also there with its U-verse and AT&T Fiber offerings.

Companies globally are investing billions of dollars in 5G despite continued debate over its ultimate uses beyond faster download speeds.  The three main applications areas for IMT 2020 are:

1] Enhanced Mobile Broadband

2] Ultra-Reliable, Low Latency Communications

3] Massive Machine Communications, i.e. Internet of Things (IoT)

Note that fixed broadband Internet access is not one of them!

Here’s an ITU diagram of IMT 2020 5G Use Cases from from a September 2016 ITU presentation:

Arthur D. Little has written a report called “5G deployment models are crystallizing” in which it makes the case that telcos need to find use cases now, if not to reap the benefits of being early to market then as a defensive measure. Where in the past only other telcos had the wherewithal to roll out a new generation of wireless technology, ADL points out that that’s no longer true. Non-telecom players are moving into the 5G space, including Google, Facebook, Apple, Hitachi, Scania, NEC, Ericsson, and Comau. Government agencies and telecom operators expect broad “5G” availability in many markets by 2020, but again, that won’t be based on ITU-R ratified IMT 2020 standards.

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“5G is a reality,” said Kim Young-ky, president of Samsung’s networks business, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.

South Korean technology giant Samsung, a fairly small player in the network equipment world, believes its knowledge making products and components could give it an edge with telecom customers seeking to sell connectivity to a wider range of devices.  Samsung’s network business generated some 2 trillion ($1.9 billion) to 2.5 trillion won in 2017, according to research firm Counterpoint Technology Market Research. It targets annual revenue of 10 trillion won by 2022, a Samsung spokesman said.

The average U.S. consumer uses about five gigabytes of mobile data a month, Mr. Kim said. But after 5G becomes more ubiquitous in the next few years, he believes consumers will eventually use closer to 100 gigabytes monthly on new services such as virtual or augmented reality programs—or even from driverless cars that will require greater data speeds to rapidly process traffic conditions.

About two years ago, Samsung combined about 1,000 workers from different divisions including handsets, network and its central research-and-development group, to create a “Next Generation Communications Business” team dedicated to 5G.

“With 5G, it’s going to be expanding beyond your phone,” Kim Woo-june, a senior vice president in Samsung’s network business, said in an interview. The industry’s first mobile phones with 5G capabilities aren’t likely to debut until 2019, he added.

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AT&T last month said it would launch a “5G” trial site in Texas, after tests in other markets. Sprint Corp. and T-Mobile US Inc. have said they are working on nationwide “5G” networks, targeting late 2019 or 2020.

References:

https://news.samsung.com/us/verizon-5g-commercial-launch/

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/platforms/samsung-gets-piece-verizon-s-5g-action/170867

https://www.wirelessweek.com/news/2018/01/verizon-partners-samsung-5g-fixed-wireless-launch

Related Articles on “5G” Deployments:

Verizon Exec: ‘Meaningful’ 5G Deployments to Start in 2018:
http://www.multichannel.com/news/finance/verizon-exec-meaningful-5g-deployments-start-2018/411354
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Verizon 5G to launch in Sacramento in 2018 | ZDNet
http://www.zdnet.com/article/verizon-5g-to-launch-in-sacramento-in-2018/
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Verizon Tips Launch of 5G-Based Residential Broadband Service

http://www.multichannel.com/news/finance/verizon-tips-launch-5g-based-residential-broadband-service/416824

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Verizon commits to residential fixed broadband as first 5G use case, but analysts call the plan “murky”

http://www.telecomtv.com/articles/5g/verizon-commits-to-residential-fixed-broadband-as-first-5g-use-case-but-analysts-call-the-plan-murky-16206/

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AT&T Targets 5G Rollouts in 2018 After 3GPP Standards Acceleration
https://www.wirelessweek.com/news/2017/03/t-targets-5g-rollouts-2018-after-3gpp-standards-acceleration
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AT&T Expects 5G in Late 2018 or Early ’19
http://www.lightreading.com/mobile/5g/atandt-expects-5g-in-late-2018-or-early-19/d/d-id/733953
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South Korea to launch first commercial 5G network in 2019
https://www.rcrwireless.com/20170525/5g/south-korea-launch-first-commercial-5g-network-2019

 

6 thoughts on “Verizon Selects Samsung for First “5G” Fixed Wireless Broadband Deployment in 2018

  1. In advanced markets where very high frequency bands, notably 28GHz, are available, a number of operators will begin rolling out pre-standard 5G equipment to provide high speed fixed-wireless access because:

    1. It can be deployed in urban areas and deliver early revenues (fixed broadband access), supporting the business case.
    2. It is less complicated and easier to bring to market than more complex uses of 5G, particularly because devices do not have restrictions in terms of size, weight and battery life, and there is no mobility requirement – the users are in a fixed location.

    28GHz spectrum has been tested in several regions and has gained vendor support. It is well suited to fixed wireless broadband access and is available in advanced data markets such as the US and Korea.

    A huge risk is that it will not be easy to upgrade the fixed mobile broadband infrastructure to support standardized IMT 2020 true 5G mobile services after 2020.

    AT&T and Verizon in the US, and KT in South Korea are following this deployment strategy but most operators will invest only in standard infrastructure and focus initially on enhanced mobile broadband services, which will likely be the biggest opportunity in the next five years, and which will help to support the growing demand for mobile data in densely populated areas.
    https://www.verdict.co.uk/fixed-wireless-likely-first-several-use-cases-5g-technology/

  2. It seems like the commercial realities are moving faster than standards. This seems to have occurred with every wireless standard lately (e.g. 4G not being true 4G, which you wrote about extensively at the time). I am not certain it is as critical as it used to be when devices and network equipment were expected to last decades. Now, a 4 year old phone is considered ancient (people laugh at my “old” phone). So, by the time the standards are ready, people will probably be replacing their devices with standards devices.

    Also, I think fixed broadband Internet access is implicit in the triangle graph (e.g. usages like 3D, UHD, Augmented Reality, Work/Play in the Cloud).

    1. Ken, Thanks for your comments, but I don’t agree that fixed broadband Internet access is implicit in the triangle graph NOW. It might be in the future, but today’s major use of fixed broadband is high speed Internet access for web surfing, on line/over the top (OTT) video, email, and also for pay TV (e.g. Xfinity cable TV, AT&T U-Verse TV, Verizon FioS TV, etc)

  3. Thanks for a very comprehensive summary of Verizon’s 5G fixed Broadband deployment.

  4. AT&T to provide “5G” to 12 markets by end of 2018, fibre to 82 metros by mid-2019:

    AT&T said it will deploy 5G services in a dozen markets by late 2018, with plans to extend its 5G Evolution advanced LTE from 23 to ‘hundreds’ of metro areas while also expanding AT&T Fiber to 82 metros by mid-2019.
    Calling it an “ambitious milestone”, AT&T said these 5G networks will be ready by the end of the year thanks to 3GPP completing 5G New Radio (5G NR) specifications last month.

    “We’re moving quickly to begin deploying mobile 5G this year,” president of AT&T Technology and Operations Melissa Arnoldi said.

    “With faster speeds and ultra-low latency, 5G will ultimately deliver and enhance experiences like virtual reality, future driverless cars, immersive 4K video, and more.”

    AT&T said it is also continuing to work on advanced LTE technologies including LTE-LAA, which is expected to launch in around 24 metros during 2018.

    AT&T’s 5G Evolution network technology has now been deployed in 23 metro areas: Atlanta, Georgia; Austin, San Antonio, and Houston, Texas; Boston, Massachusetts; Hartford and Bridgeport, Connecticut; Buffalo, New York; Chicago, Illinois; Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, and Fresno, California; Greenville, South Carolina; Indianapolis, Indiana; Louisville, Kentucky; Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee; New Orleans, Louisiana; Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

    “While we are rolling out mobile 5G in 2018, we also plan to continue to enhance our network with 5G Evolution technology in hundreds of additional metro areas,” the mobile carrier added.

    “We will give you more options to access our latest wireless network offers by making additional 5G Evolution-capable devices available throughout the year.”

    It also plans to add 3 million more locations to the AT&T Fiber network, for a total of 12.5 million locations across 82 metro areas by mid-2019. New metros being targeted by AT&T’s full-fibre network include Waco, Amarillo, and Beaumont, Texas; Gainesville and Panama City, Florida; Springfield, Missouri; and Evansville, Indiana. By the end of 2017, AT&T Fiber had reached 7 million locations across 67 metros nationwide.

    Editor’s Note: Ironically, AT&T Chairs ITU-R WP5D which is standardizing true 5G with completion planned for late 2020.

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