‘Expansion of Coverage’ Will Be 5G’s 2021 Story, Says Qualcomm Engineer

Qualcomm Technologies saw a 5G “acceleration across the board” in 2020, said Alejandro Holcman, senior vice president-engineering, in a prerecorded CES 2021 workshop streamed Wednesday. Qualcomm estimates that more than 100 network operators worldwide have “commercially deployed” 5G, he said. Hundreds of smartphone OEMs introduced 5G products, and shipments exceeded 200 million devices, he said. Though the pandemic made 2020 a “very challenging year, things are happening,” and there’s “no sign of a slowdown” in 5G, he said. The rollout is “still in the early stages,” said Holcman, and he thinks the 5G story of 2021 will be “expansion of coverage.” Consumers who buy 5G smartphones aren’t happy when they can’t find a 5G signal, he said. “Some of these things take time,” as they did during earlier wireless transitions, he said. Some higher 5G bands have “lower propagation” than the existing 4G service, he said. Building coverage “requires additional sites, and that takes time -- it’s more complex, you need permits,” he said. “But in 2021, I’m pretty hopeful that everybody’s going to be able to experience the 5G signal that they should get.”