Environmentally friendly 5G, “mainstream” virtual reality and ubiquitous Wi-Fi 6E are among trends ABI Research predicted won't happen in 2021. That global 5G subscriptions are forecast to grow 48.4% to 347 million “will strain the environment as a growing number of consumers will be switching over to 5G devices,” said ABI Tuesday: “The transition will potentially create large amounts of electronic waste.” Stakeholders “have not aligned” to enable mainstream VR adoption, it said. Growth will be strong in 2021, “but the user base will not reach levels once thought probable,” where VR competes for time with TVs and smartphones, it said. COVID-19 further accelerated demand for high-efficiency Wi-Fi networks, said the researcher. But residential broadband adoption of Wi-Fi 6E, an extended Wi-Fi 6 network with 6 GHz spectrum “will be minimal in 2021" because broadband service providers only recently started upgrading infrastructure for Wi-Fi 6, it said.

Qualcomm executives spotlighted speed in launching the company’s Snapdragon 888 5G chipset at its virtual Snapdragon Tech Summit Tuesday. The 888's third-generation X60 5G modem-RF system offers global compatibility via millimeter-wave and sub-6 GHz across all major bands, it said. During the keynote, Qualcomm demonstrated radio-controlled race cars connected by mmWave to a private 5G network, built with help from Verizon and Ericsson and controlled over 5G using an 888 reference design with the Snapdragon X60 5G modem-RF system. Drivers controlled the cars from over a mile away, viewing live video of the track using the capture capabilities of the platform. Qualcomm builds foundational technologies for smartphones first, then extends them to other growth segments enabled by mobile technology, said Alex Katouzian, general manager-mobile, compute and infrastructure. He referenced always-on, always-connected PCs; extended reality devices; edge/cloud artificial intelligence products; and 5G fixed wireless broadband. The 888 chipset will “triple down” on future computational photography, said Lekha Motiwala, director-product management, describing “gigapixel speed” in the Qualcomm Spectra image signal processor that will capture photos and videos at 2.7 gigapixels per second -- 120 photos at 12-megapixel resolution -- up to 35% faster than the previous generation processor. A new AI engine boasts 26 tera operations per second and a sensing hub with lower-power, always-on AI processing for “intuitive, intelligent” features. The 888's gaming feature delivers an upgrade in graphics processing, Motiwala said. Despite the industry push for affordable 5G smartphones to expand adoption, Lenovo, LG, Meizu, Motorola, OnePlus, Oppo, vivo and Xiaomi have committed to the Snapdragon 888, which reinforces Qualcomm's strategy for supporting “challenger” vendors looking to compete against Samsung, Apple, and Huawei, emailed ABI Research analyst David McQueen Tuesday. Challenger OEMs will be a "welcome shot in the arm for the high-end smartphones sector, which was at risk of being squeezed owing to the frantic pace of plunging 5G smartphone prices," said McQueen. Introduction of Snapdragon 888-based phones could "delay the onset of a fast-approaching mass market," he said. The choice of 888, the "luckiest combination of numbers in Chinese numerology" could signal Qualcomm's "extending an olive branch to those in the industry caught up in the ongoing China-US trade war," said the analyst.

Four of every 10 mobile subscriptions globally will be 5G in 2026, reported Ericsson Monday. “Current 5G uptake in subscriptions and population coverage confirms the technology as deploying the fastest of any generation of mobile connectivity.” Ericsson estimates that by year-end, more than a billion people -- 15% of the population -- will live in an area with 5G coverage. That’s expected to grow to 60% in 2026, when 5G subscriptions are forecast to reach 3.5 billion. Ericsson projects that globally, such subs will reach 220 million by the end of 2020, 4% of them in North America. “Commercialization is now moving at a rapid pace,” said the company, and 80% of North American mobile customers by 2026 will be fifth-generation, the highest of any region.

ITU approved 5G terrestrial radio interface specifications: the 3rd Generation Partnership Project's 5G-SRIT and 5G-RIT and the Telecommunications Standards Development Society India's 5Gi. It said those specs are now part of an ITU international mobile telecom 2020 standard being considered by the 193 ITU member nations.

Dish Network procured access for its 5G “coast-to-coast” fiber needs by signing vendor agreements with Everstream, Segra, Uniti and Zayo, it said Monday. The agreements give Dish “fronthaul and backhaul support” to connect its 5G cloud-based open radio access network to sites covering about 60 million Americans, it said.

U.S. “fearmongers” who warn that China is “way ahead” in the 5G “race” and that “drastic measures are needed to catch up,” fail to see that China’s 5G stats paint a misleading picture, said the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation Monday.” Some have “panicked” over China’s deployment of hundreds of thousands of new 5G base stations and “projections of hundreds of millions of 5G subscribers this year,” it said, but “understanding how infrastructure and subscription numbers are actually counted matters.” China distorts data by counting anyone on a 5G plan as a subscriber, even those who “only have a 4G device connecting to 4G infrastructure,” it said. The country counts individual base stations instead of cellsites, further tainting the data to appear “that the sky is falling,” ITIF said: Though China’s 5G ambitions “should not be underestimated,” U.S. stakeholders “should view Chinese operators’ 5G claims with skepticism.”

Qualcomm will livestream six keynotes at its virtual Snapdragon Tech Summit Tuesday and Wednesday starting at 7 a.m. PST daily on Qualcomm.com, Twitter and YouTube, said the company. Qualcomm President Cristiano Amon is hosting the event, which includes speeches from Verizon, NTT Docomo and Xiaomi leaders.

After a stronger-than-expected Q3, the global smartphone market is expected to return to growth during the holiday quarter, said IDC Wednesday. It forecast 2.4% growth vs. Q4 2019, followed by 4.4% growth next year, fueled by “an impressively quick supply chain recovery” and incentives from OEMs and channels for 5G handsets. Despite lockdowns and economic concerns, consumers in many markets have shifted spending to consumer electronics from travel, dining out and general leisure activities, said analyst Ryan Reith. The recovery in China was slower than anticipated largely due to weaker-than-expected demand for 5G. IDC expects 5G smartphone shipments to reach close to 10% of global volume this year, growing to 29% in 2024. Despite concerns about the lack of demand for 5G, “the wheels are in motion to transition the mobile industry to the latest network technology,” with cost a key factor. Getting 5G pricing on par with 4G phones is an industry focus, IDC said. The research firm expects worldwide 5G average selling prices to drop 25% this year to $611, and to $453 in 2024. “Aggressive promotions and more affordable 5G devices from major smartphone vendors are expected to partially offset the impact" of COVID-19, said analyst Sangeetika Srivastava.

Further R&D into advanced spectrum-sharing and high-band technologies could provide opportunities to better use the airwaves for 5G and future generations of wireless networks, GAO reported Tuesday. It suggested lawmakers consider updates to cybersecurity and privacy laws to address the implications of 5G. Lawmakers who sought the study included leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services and Intelligence committees, House Science Committee Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Texas, and Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Bill Foster, D-Ill. The Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Program’s Wireless Spectrum R&D Interagency Working Group and National Institute of Standards and Technology “identified the need for effective automation of interference detection and mediation as especially important as highly directional, active antennas become more common,” the auditor found. Policymakers could promote R&D via grants to academic and research institutions, a public-private partnership or tax credits for industry, GAO said. “For testing and development in real-world settings, new 5G test beds may be necessary, according to NIST, or it may be possible to use existing test beds.” High-band research could “help close the knowledge gaps and increase understanding of any possible health effects, including the effects of long-term exposure to high-band RF energy,” GAO said. Antenna research "could result in improved statistical modeling of antenna characteristics and the generation of data to more accurately represent signal propagation, according to NIST.” R&D generally “can be costly, must be coordinated and administered, is generally considered a long-term investment, and its potential benefits are uncertain,” the report said. “Policymakers would need to identify a new funding source for research or determine which existing funding streams to reallocate. Similarly, funding development work at new test bed facilities would involve significant costs. On the other hand, adapting existing test bed facilities would not require a significant capital outlay, but may require significant coordination.” Some R&D, cybersecurity and privacy matters involving 5G “may be addressed without any intervention from policymakers,” the auditor said: Maintaining the status quo “will likely not fully address” those issues and "may contribute to other 5G challenges,” including “national security risks.”

Global telco cloud revenue will grow to $29.3 billion by 2025, primarily driven by investments in virtual network functions, management and network orchestration, as well as cloud native functions, ABI Research reported Tuesday. 5G network slicing is positioned to create $8.9 billion by 2026, a "drop in the bucket" for communication service provider service revenue, said analyst Don Alusha. "The jury is still out who captures what parts of the bigger emerging 5G edge and network slicing ecosystem."