Skyworks Solutions had $957 million in fiscal Q4 revenue, more than $100 million above the high end of its guidance, proof it's “driving and benefiting from the rollout of 5G" worldwide, said CEO Liam Griffin on a Monday investor call about the quarter ended Oct. 2. “Recent data points” show how rapidly adoption is “accelerating,” he said. Thirty-eight countries have launched the networks, with more “set to deploy,” he said. About 12% of smartphones shipped this year are “5G-enabled,” with projections of more than 50% by 2023, he said. “The world's leading smartphone manufacturer has just now released its entire lineup of new 5G devices,” said Griffin, obviously referencing Samsung. “Although we are only in the early innings, 5G has arrived.” A large part of the front-end module and other component supplier's 5G demand came from Asia-Pacific smartphone OEM customers, he said. "We have been winning business. We've been expediting products. The demand has been incredible."
Ericsson completed its $1 billion buy of Cradlepoint (see 2010080053), a U.S.-based wireless wide-area network edge solutions company, Ericsson said Monday. “The investment is key to Ericsson’s ongoing strategy of capturing market share in the rapidly expanding 5G enterprise space.”
T-Mobile has a buy one, get one free offer on the LG Wing 5G smartphone, arriving Nov. 6. The dual-screen phone works on 600 MHz and 2.5 GHz 5G spectrum, in addition to T-Mobile’s LTE network, said the company. It has a 6.8-inch, 2220 x 1080 main OLED display and a second 3.9-inch OLED screen, enabling two apps to run concurrently. A 64-megapixel camera headlines the triple camera array. The BOGO offer is available to new and existing customers for $41.67/month over 24 months, said the carrier.
Verizon is pitching a free month of YouTube TV, a Stream TV device and an Amazon smart home bundle in a promotion for Verizon 5G Home Internet, targeting customers in areas of Atlanta, Dallas, Denver and San Jose where service launches Nov. 5. Customers in parts of a dozen cities now have access to Verizon's 5G Home Internet. Nineteen cities, six stadiums and six airports have 5G Ultra Wideband, it noted. The Amazon bundle includes an Echo Show 5, Ring Stick Up Cam, Echo Dot and smart plug. The carrier is pitching the offering as “ideal for people working remotely, schooling at home or streaming their favorite shows.” Peak downloads are up to 1 Gbps, with typical download speeds of 300 Mbps. Service is $50 monthly for Verizon customers with a monthly mobile plan of $30 or more, $70 for non-Verizon customers. Customers can set up 5G Home Internet using “innovative new hardware” with augmented reality, Verizon said.
The U.S. isn’t losing to China on 5G, said Larry Kudlow, National Economic Council director, at a GSMA/CTIA 5G summit Tuesday. “America is doing very well on 5G,” he said: “People are always way too pessimistic. … Our technology advances are the best in the world; they remain so.” President Donald Trump directed him to push a free-market approach, and that hasn’t “wavered,” Kudlow said. “We are moving forward to auction off as much spectrum as possible, to get it across the country as fast as possible,” the economist said. “We’re working very hard dealing with privacy issues and security issues, and, of course, technological issues and market changes.” The U.S. is having success getting other nations, including Britain, Sweden, Australia and Japan, to reject Huawei equipment in their networks, he said. “The list is growing.” Kudlow stressed the importance of open radio access networks, with their emphasis on software over hardware. The Chinese Embassy and Huawei didn't comment.
The U.S. and Slovak Republic agreed Friday to work together on 5G security, the State Department said. “5G will enable a vast array of new applications, including the provision of critical services to the public, which will benefit our citizens and our economies,” said a joint declaration: “Increased amounts of data on 5G networks will further interconnect the economies of the world, including the Slovak Republic and the United States, and facilitate cross-border services and commerce.”
CTA opposes any DOD move to launch a nationalized 5G network, the association told the agency. “CTA respectfully urges the Department not to substitute the tried-and-true market-based model that has worked for decades with an untested top-down framework that would place America’s 5G leadership at risk,” said comments this week in response to a controversial DOD request for information (see 2010200055). “CTA’s members and other commercial actors are best situated to invest capital and innovate to meet communications needs, and to ensure that our networks remain secure and resilient. If allowed to do so, they will maintain America’s wireless leadership in the 5G era and beyond.” Institute for Policy Innovation research fellow Bartlett Cleland blogged Thursday that a government network isn’t the key to U.S. leadership on 5G. “DoD seems to be shockingly unaware of the extent of technological innovation and progress in this country and how it came to be,” he said: “The internet, broadband, wireless, online commerce, and innovation in general have made great progress, but not because of government ‘leadership,’ military or otherwise.” FCC Commissioners Brendan Carr and Geoffrey Starks were critical of a DOD-nationalized 5G network during Technology Policy Institute's virtual conference Thursday (see 2010220055). Carr said the idea seems to reflect beliefs several years out of date that the U.S. is falling behind China in 5G. In the past three years, "we have turned things around," he said.
The “mid to high tier” in smartphones “is the place to be” in the test solutions business, said Teradyne CEO Mark Jagiela on a Q3 investor call Wednesday. “These phones are seeing disproportionate growth and complexity related to multiple high-density camera arrays and the associated processing power and storage to manage this data.” The company supplies test and automation equipment to semiconductor makers and smartphone OEMs, with Apple, Qualcomm and Samsung among top customers. The migration to 5G is a big “complexity driver” in smartphones, said Jagiela. “These high tier phones are early adopters of the extra silicon needed to enable these features.” Fewer than 250 million phones will be 5G-enabled in 2020, “and only a fraction of those” will support millimeter-wave, he said. “So despite the bump in 2020, we are still in the very early stages of 5G adoption.”
Verizon could be the big winner in the upcoming C-band auction, with bids in the $16 billion range, MoffettNathanson’s Craig Moffett told investors Wednesday: “Who is going to bid against them? AT&T doesn’t have any money. T-Mobile doesn’t need more spectrum (although perhaps they’ll bid anyway).” Moffett said the importance of midband spectrum is increasingly clear. “That’s a big part of why we’ve been so bullish about T-Mobile,” he said. “Their 2.5 GHz spectrum gives them a huge head start. But the stars may be aligning for Verizon to at least be a close second.”
The Competitive Carriers Association mostly supports the proposed 5G Fund order but seeks changes, said a filing posted Monday in docket 20-32. “Requiring legacy support recipients to immediately begin deploying 5G at 35/3 Mbps in rural America in 2021 would be unreasonable, particularly as many carriers have already completed their 2021 budgets, some carriers have already placed their equipment purchases for the year, and others have already submitted network plans to states that retain [eligible telecommunications carrier] oversight authority,” CCA said: To the extent that the draft is “intended to enable legacy support recipients to have greater flexibility in spending support towards 5G during this interim period” it should be “clarified to more explicitly allow for flexible use of legacy support.” CCA spoke with aides to the Republican FCC commissioners and staff from the Rural Broadband Auctions Task Force, Office of Economics and Analytics and Wireline Bureau. Commissioners vote Oct. 27 (see 2010060060).