Однако с запуском сетей 5-го поколения (5th Generation или сокращённо 5G) ситуация должна измениться. Здесь Samsung владеет куда большим числом ключевых патентов и является одним из наиболее активных сторонников скорейшего внедрения новых технологий ультраскоростной передачи данных, сообщают сегодня южнокорейские СМИ.
Согласно планам Samsung, к 2022 году на долю коммуникационного 5G-оборудования под его маркой будет приходиться 20% мировых продаж. Пока же все основные игроки, что называется, стоят "на низком старте" и говорить о возможной расстановке сил ещё рано.
На сегодняшний день лидерами в этом важном секторе экономики являются китайская Huawei, шведская Ericsson и финская Nokia.
Издание The Bell считает, что у Samsung есть все основания претендовать на лидирующие позиции в сегменте 5G-оборудования, особенно на фоне обострения торговых отношений между США и Китаем. Эта война привела к тому, что Huawei и ZTE остались без заказов на поставку оборудования для развертывания 5G-сетей американскими операторами. Связано это с тем, что указанные китайские производители были уличены спецслужбами США в тайной установке программных и аппаратных "закладок" с целью шпионажа, о чём мы недавно рассказывали в одной из публикаций блога Samsung World.
При этом Samsung давно занял сильные позиции в США, а также на родном южнокорейском рынке. Уже известно, что оборудование Samsung будут устанавливать крупнейшие американские операторы связи Verizon и AT&T.
Сегодня же информационные агентства сообщили, что южнокорейский сотовый оператор SK Telecom объявил о первом телефонном звонке, который был совершён с использованием 5G-устройств Samsung. Во время тестирования партнёры использовали полосу частотного диапазона 3,5ГГц.
Samsung intends to become one of the best suppliers of 5G communication equipment
South Korea’s biggest network operator SK Telecom announced Monday the company had succeeded in the first call in a test bed using commercial fifth-generation equipment by Samsung Electronics.
To reach the goal of commercializing the world’s first 5G services through mobile routers as early as in December, the two Korean mobile operator and equipment manufacturer are speeding up technological preparations for the launch.
The first call refers to the final procedure of testing smooth data transfer in a test bed created with technological conditions equivalent to a real 5G environment.
A successful call is determined mainly by connections among the base station, exchanger and mobile devices, synchronization among equipment parts for communication, certification of normal access to the 5G network by subscribers and all other conditions that are necessary for connecting the current Long Term Evolution network with the upcoming 5G network.
SKT and Samsung carried out the test by using the 100-megahertz bandwidth in the 3.5-gigahertz frequency spectrum, which fully complies with international 5G standards by 3GPP.
Many other telecom firms have announced first calls by using their own standards and testing equipment, but the SKT-Samsung call is significant in that they used the commercial equipment in a test bed most identical to the real environment, an SKT official explained.
SKT CTO Park Jin-hyo said, “The Korean mobile carrier’s preparations for 5G commercialization are several months ahead of global competitors.”
“SKT will spend the next few months on maximizing the quality of upcoming services.”
According to Samsung, the 5G service launch via mobile dongles in December will mark a global first, while it is preparing to make 5G services available for smartphones in March 2019 as planned.
“Samsung is gearing up for impeccable 5G services through preparations,” said Cheun Kyung-whoon, executive vice president at Samsung.
Amid persistent concerns in the industry about potential security risks of deploying Huawei’s fifth-generation network equipment by Korean telecom companies, the Chinese tech giant said Monday it will respond to any requests by the Korean government or customers to prove its security capabilities.
“Huawei has been working to meet requirements on security by governments around the world, and the company will obviously fulfill requirements by the Korean government, if it demands any,” the company said in a statement.
The statement was made as bidding for 5G equipment deployments by three Korean mobile operators comes to an end soon.
While market leader SK Telecom announced last month it will be working with Samsung Electronics, Ericsson and Nokia for the establishment of its 5G network, KT and LG Uplus have not yet finalized their decisions.
KT is expected to follow the decision of SKT, but that decision is being delayed for numerous reasons, according to the equipment industry.
“KT is facing challenges in making a final decision on the vendors because it has to achieve two contrasting goals of savings costs and speedily deploying the nationwide network,” said an industry insider.
Some said, “It is unusual for KT to postpone the deals with equipment venders for several weeks, which raises questions if the company is considering Huawei at the last minute.”
LG Uplus, which introduced Huawei’s Long Term Evolution equipment in 2013, is reportedly leaning toward the Chinese 5G equipment, and is discussing the scope of deployment.
“LG Uplus is considering deploying the Huawei equipment for Sejong and Gwacheon areas, but is facing some disagreements from the government,” said an industry source.
Both KT and LG Uplus officials denied the comments, and did not confirm when the final decision will be made.
Samsung Electronics' network division has set its goal of becoming the top three global operator in the 5G market by 2022. The telecom equipment market share is expected to be 20%.
Until now, Samsung Electronics' market share of telecom equipment was only 3%. However, in the 5G communication equipment market, Korea and the US are rapidly expanding their market share. It is likely to achieve the market share target by filling in the workforce and accelerating R&D.
