Verizon's choice of Samsung as a primary 5G vendor surprised most of the industry, but Samsung had been positioning itself for that win for half a decade. Their first large customer outside Korea was KDDI, Japan's #2. Samsung went on to win about a third of Sprint's U.S. LTE network, 13,000 base stations.

Youngky Kim and team then won Reliance Jio, which became the fastest growing network on Earth. Jio now has 150,000 bases, about as many as Verizon and AT&T combined. Despite adding well over 100M paying customers since September 2016, Jio has consistently raised speeds and generally led the TRAI speed tests.

When Wonil Roh described Samsung research at the Brooklyn 5G conference in 2014, I realized they intended to be important in 5G mmWave.

Dozens of Samsung engineers have written important papers.

They are now appearing on most 5G shortlists in the parts of the world they are ready to service. They supply the biggest network in India, two major in the U.S., Japan, and soon Europe.

Almost a year ago, Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam talked about a 5G demonstration in Korea that delivered coverage beyond the expected 1,000 feet. That the CEO went to Samsung headquarters made clear Samsung was under consideration. On January 3, Verizon announced that Samsung and Ericsson would be their 5G vendors in the first stage of network building.

By February, Verizon had deployed 100's of 5G cells for testing and is committed to signing the first customers by the end of 2018. (Both Verizon and AT&T have said they will be first. Pure pr.)

Verizon is clearly building as fast as they can; I reported last spring the decision had been made to spend $20B to cover 25%-30% of the U.S. AT&T has not said much about the size of their deployment, but I believe they intend to pace Verizon. I hear from T they believe whoever builds 5G first will win a large volume of cable customers. It appears the race will be close.

Verizon and AT&T were assumed to be going with Ericsson & Nokia. Alcatel, Lucent, Siemens, Marconi and Nortel are gone. NEC has little presence internationally. Companies like Huawei and ZTE are barred from the U.S. Huawei, Ericsson, Nokia, ZTE, and now Samsung are the choices.

Ericsson and Nokia face a Prisoner's Dilemma choice on pricing in the U.S., knowing the other would retaliate in other accounts across the world. Their rational choice would be implicit co-operation to squeeze a little more out of the telcos.

Verizon had major incentive to bring in a third vendor. Nokia's position was undermined by a major fail, which required replacing so much equipment they had to discuss it in their financial call.

Nokia and Ericsson had also fallen behind in Massive MIMO, which Verizon has had in its plans since at least 2016. link Although MM was invented by Tom Marzetta at Alcatel Bell Labs, Huawei and ZTE were the first to bring it to market. Both delivered production equipment to Softbank and China Mobile in 2016. Alcatel & Ericsson are just catching up.

Unlike the European vendors, Samsung the company is very profitable. They passed Intel as the world's largest chipmaker on the strength of the very high memory prices. Their mobile screens are a hot and profitable product. The financials suggest Ericsson and Nokia may merge one day, as is persistently rumored.

Tens of thousands of engineers are working to bring mmWave to market years before expected.

Samsung Selected as a 4G LTE Open RAN Provider on Verizon’s 4G LTE Network

USA on February 23, 2018

Companies collaborate to actively advance an open, virtualized infrastructure model

Samsung Electronics America, today announced it has been selected by Verizon to assist in advancing their 4G LTE Open RAN initiative.

With this collaboration, both companies are working to increase network efficiencies, advance inter-carrier interoperability, and prepare a path for virtualized RAN and 5G commercialization. Samsung will supply Verizon with equipment including Remote Radio Heads (RRHs) and Baseband Units (BBUs). These key network elements will also support Verizon’s Open RAN initiative by allowing the ability to interwork with other ecosystem providers. All supporting equipment will continue to enable Verizon’s LTE Advanced capabilities as well as current CAT-M and future Narrow Band IOT platforms.

“We are committed to offering our customers a best-in-class network experience through enabling new technology partnerships in an open network ecosystem,” said Ed Chan, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Architect, Corporate Network& Technology, Verizon.

“Samsung is excited to support Verizon as they advance their 4G LTE network and build the next generation of wireless networks,” said Mark Louison, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Networks Division, Samsung Electronics America. “It’s imperative that we as an industry continue to engineer networks, so we can deliver unprecedented, enhanced user experiences as technologies evolve.”

Samsung Networks has been a provider of Verizon femto cells for many years. This latest agreement expands the companies’ relationship to include larger scale 4G LTE Macro gear. This includes incorporating the next generation of Samsung Baseband Units and Remote Radio Heads, with planned deployment in 2018.

Verizon Selects Samsung for 5G Commercial Launch

01.03.18

Samsung to power Verizon’s first 5G commercial services in Sacramento, California

RIDGEFIELD PARK, N.J. – JANUARY 3RD, 2018 – Samsung Electronics America, Inc. today announced that it has been selected to supply Verizon with commercial 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) network solutions. The two companies will begin by launching commercial 5G services in Sacramento, California in the second half of 2018.

“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,” said Ed Chan, Chief Technology Architect and Network Planning, Verizon.“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.,” said Mark Louison, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Networks Division, 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.”Last year, Samsung and Verizon began 5G customer trials across seven U.S. cities in early 2017, and have successfully tested and verified 5G performance using millimeter-wave (mmWave) frequency to provide FWA pre-commercial service. These trials were conducted in California, Georgia, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Michigan, Texas, and Washington D.C.5G Trial FindingsAfter conducting trials in key markets across the U.S., Samsung and Verizon have collected results that will help in calibrating a 5G future. Key findings include:

A single 5G radio has been able to reach the 19th floor of a multi-dwelling unit (MDU).
Broadband service has been achieved in line of sight (LOS), partial LOS and Non-LOS connections.
Environmental factors, including rain and snow, have not interrupted services.

Samsung will provide Verizon with commercial 5G home routers (CPEs), 5G Radio Access Units (RAN) comprised of a compact radio base station and virtualized RAN elements, as well as 5G radio frequency planning services. To provide these services, Samsung has leveraged in-house technology and assets to develop the first commercial ASIC-based 5G modems and mmWave RFICs. Verizon and Samsung will continue to develop the use cases and applications of Samsung’s 5G technology.

KDDI and Samsung Complete First Successful Demonstration of 5G on a Train Moving at over 100km/hour (over 60 mph)

11.30.17

Cross-industry collaboration drives breakthrough as 5G uplink and downlink handover—and 1.7Gbps speed—were achieved on the high-speed train

SEOUL, KOREA – DECEMBER 1, 2017 – KDDI and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. have successfully completed the first 5G demonstration on a moving train traveling at over 100 km/hour (over 60 mph). This was achieved along a section of track where the distance between two stations was approximately 1.5km (nearly 1 mile). During the demonstration, the companies achieved a successful downlink and uplink handover as well as a peak speed of 1.7 Gbps.

The tests were carried out from October 17th through the 19th in the city of Saitama in Japan, near Tokyo. For the tests, Samsung’s 5G pre-commercial end-to-end solution was used, which is composed of a 5G router (CPE), radio access unit (5G Radio), virtualized RAN and virtualized core.

The demonstration leveraged capabilities driven by 5G, such as high throughput, low latency and massive connections, which verified potential services and use cases that would be highly-beneficial to passengers and operators of high-speed trains. This could pave the way to vastly improved backhaul for onboard WiFi, superior passenger infotainment and increased security and analytics

In addition to a successful downlink and uplink handover at more than 100km/hour (over 60 mph), 8K video was downloaded via the CPE installed on-board, and a 4K video filmed on a camera mounted on the train was able to be uploaded.

“In collaboration with Samsung, KDDI has opened up the possibility for new 5G vertical business models, such as a high-speed train. With 5G expected to bring railway services to a whole new dimension, the success of today’s demonstration in everyday locations such as a train and train station is an important milestone indicating 5G commercialization is near,” said Yoshiaki Uchida, Senior Managing Executive Officer at KDDI. “To fulfill our aim to launch 5G by 2020, KDDI will continue exploring real-life scenario experiments for diverse 5G use and business cases together with Samsung.”

“The potential that 5G holds is powerful enough to transform the landscape of our daily lives,” said Youngky Kim, President and Head of Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “The success of today’s demonstration is a result of our joint research with KDDI, which we will continue to pursue as we explore next generation networks and use cases. This will include research on diverse spectrums and technologies, as well as new business models and applications.”

Since 2015, KDDI and Samsung Electronics have been closely collaborating to demonstrate 5G millimeter wave performance in various scenarios. This includes a multi-cell handover demonstration that took place in February, where the device was mounted on a car traveling the busy streets of Tokyo, and a high-speed mobility test with the device attached on a car racing at 200km/h in Yongin, Korea in September.
About KDDI

KDDI, a Fortune Global 500 company and one of Asia’s largest telecommunications providers, has a proven global track record of high quality service delivery. We provide a multitude of services, including mobile phone services, fixed-line communication, and data centers, thus making us the optimum one-stop solution provider for everything telecommunications and IT environment related

Samsung and Sprint Conduct Real-World Massive MIMO Testing at Mobile World Congress Fall 2017

09.11.17As Massive MIMO (multiple input, multiple output) promises to deliver faster connection speeds and more data capacity in high-traffic locations – without using any additional spectrum — Samsung Electronics America, Inc. (SEA) and Sprint will demonstrate Massive MIMO technologies at the Fall 2017 Mobile World Congress.

Occurring at the Samsung Networks booth (South Hall S616), Samsung and Sprint will build upon their recent test of the technology earlier this year in Suwon, South Korea. There, the companies tested Massive MIMO on the 2.5 GHz spectrum in the real-world environment. Sprint wrote test cases and scenarios, and Samsung provided the infrastructure, network design, operation, data collection, and data processing resources. The test demonstrated the high potential of Massive MIMO to deliver gigabit LTE services in dynamic, urban environments.

Samsung’s Massive MIMO hardware – equipped with vertical and horizontal beam-forming technology – deployed 32 antennas, representing a four-fold increase in throughput from current, commercially deployed configurations. Leveraging Sprint’s network, the test recorded peak speeds of 330 Mbps per channel using a 20 MHz channel of 2.5 GHz spectrum. It also demonstrated a four-fold increase in capacity per channel and a three-fold increase in cell edge performance, and an improvement in the overall coverage area, compared to current commercial deployment.

With its latest demonstration at MWC Americas, Samsung is showcasing its roadmap for advancing the commercial development of a 64T/64R solution. Additionally, the demonstration shows their commitment to LTE Advanced technologies and 5G cellular networks through Massive MIMO hardware, and will highlight the latest milestones attainable with this technology including the increase in cell peak throughput by up to 8 times, and average cell throughput by over 3 times, compared to current commercial deployment.

Samsung’s achievements in the deployment of Massive MIMO solutions were recently highlighted in Ovum’s White Paper, “Massive MIMO Comes of Age.” Ovum emphasized Samsung’s contributions to the deployment of Massive MIMO technology and the unique capabilities of its indoor solution for high-rise buildings.

According to Mr. Daryl Schoolar, Practice Leader for Next Generation Infrastructure at Ovum, “Massive MIMO provides mobile operators with one of the most efficient ways of adding capacity to their LTE networks, and will eventually support their 5G networks. The Samsung-Sprint massive MIMO trial show the benefits of this technology in a real-world situation.”

Samsung will begin commercializing these Massive MIMO solutions in October 2017 on the TDD band and in 2018 on the FDD band.

5G Is Now, Part 2: High End Performance from Equipment to Devices and Chipsets

on February 28, 2018

At Mobile World Congress 2018, which kicked off on February 26, Samsung Electronics cemented its status as an industry leader by introducing a full lineup of products that will be vital for the commercialization of fifth generation (5G) wireless communications. At the root of this achievement are Samsung’s end-to-end solutions spanning network equipment, devices and chipsets, not to mention a commitment to R&D investment that began in 5G’s infancy, six years ago.

A Strong Foundation Lays the Groundwork for Convenient 5G Technology

Unveiled at the event was a chipset supporting 28 GHz, a 5G spectrum, home devices, base stations and network core equipment. Samsung’s 5G devices, when installed in homes or enterprises, will automatically be recognized by 5G base stations and provided with ultra-fast broadband service of up to 1Gbps, while the network core equipment is responsible for resource management and real-time data traffic distribution.

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Central to the initial phase of 5G is the notion of an ecosystem – an ecosystem that covers manufacturers of chipsets, devices and other equipment. Samsung stands out as a key player in the industry with end-to-end solutions that deal with each aspect of this 5G network cycle, enabling early 5G commercialization and stable service quality. This is precisely why Verizon, the largest mobile network operator in the U.S. and an industry leader when it comes to 5G commercialization, has selected Samsung as its vendor

“What it means for a single company to be able to provide chips, devices and equipment is that it can optimize 5G and bring out the best of this new exciting technology all by itself,” said Tim Baxter, President of Samsung Electronics America. “Beginning this year, we plan on peeling off the layers, one by one, to show how a connected world built by a full 5G commercial product lineup will unfold before our eyes.”

Six Years of R&D Finally Coming to Fruition

Samsung has demonstrated its technological expertise throughout the evolution of communications – from 2G to 3G and 4G. Indeed, the company was the first to commercialize CDMA (Code-Division Multiple Access) during the 2G era. Samsung was also at the forefront of 4G LTE (Long-Term Evolution) innovation as a key vendor in technologically advanced markets such as the US, Japan, Korea and the UK. Its business has now expanded into rapidly developing India, where Samsung is the sole vendor of the country’s 4G LTE nationwide network.

Samsung has been convinced of the potential that the millimeter wave spectrum holds since 2012, and has been investing in 5G R&D ever since. These efforts have resulted in the successful development of beamforming technology that supports directional signal transmission or reception. Based on this achievement, a technology that enables transmission speeds of over 1Gbps and is capable of covering distances of up to 2 kilometers using a 28 GHz band was developed and demonstrated in May of 2013.

In 2014, a seamless data transmission speed of 1.2Gpbs was achieved during a demonstration wed Samsung to further accelerate 5G’s commercialization. Handover is regarded as a critical technology for networks as it signifies seamless coverage for smart devices when a user moves between base stations. In March of 2016, Samsung became the first in the industry to successfully accomplish a multi-cell handover demonstration by achieving Gbps-level connectivity while a vehicle moved across three 5G base stations at 25 km/h.In September of 2017, Samsung demonstrated seamless connectivity with a vehicle traveling at over 200 km/h, as well as a successful handover with a vehicle moving at 192 km/h. These remarkable achievements proved that the application of 5G on high-speed trains was a feasible concept.

Around this time, Samsung also successfully proved the capabilities of a 4G-5G intertwined network that binds together three spectrums by linking a 4G LTE network that utilizes the 2.6 GHz band with a 5G network that uses the 28 GHz and 3.5 GHz bands. Interworking between different-generation networks is recognized in the industry as a prerequisite for fostering 5G commercialization.

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Accelerating the 5G Era with Operators Worldwide

By nature, telecommunications service can only begin once an operator has acquired the rights to use a particular spectrum from its government and established infrastructure with its vendor. It is absolutely crucial that the service allows multiple users to simultaneously enjoy seamless connection anywhere and anytime. 5G commercialization is no exception to this rule; cooperation between operators, equipment vendors and device manufacturers is a must.

Samsung has been focusing on intensifying its technical and business bonds with operators in markets with advanced 5G adoption such as Korea, the US and Japan. The US is the first country to have acquired the 28 GHz spectrum, and it plans on launching FWA (fixed wireless access) service using 5G technology in the second half of this year. Samsung is in the midst of carrying out 5G trial services in key US cities together with Verizon and has already deployed 5G networks in seven of the eleven cities – Sacramento included – where Verizon provides its service. To add to the list are the 5G trials being carried out in Indiana with AT&T, as well as another with T-Mobile.

Korea is quickly gaining recognition as a testbed for the latest technologies. In September of 2017, together with the Korean telecommunications operator SK Telecom, Samsung successfully demonstrated, for the first time ever, how 4G and 5G networks can interwork with one another.

Japan has targeted the year 2020 for 5G commercialization, to coincide with a large-scale sporting event that will be held in Tokyo. Together with the country’s leading operator, NTT DOCOMO, Samsung successfully demonstrated the 5G technology in a vehicle traveling at high speed in November of 2016. With KDDI, another key operator in Japan, Samsung conducted a 5G demonstration on a Tokyo highway in February of last year. In December of the same year, the joint efforts extended into a 5G test held on a high-speed train.

Also collaborating with Samsung to accelerate 5G commercialization is the French operator Orange. Together with Korea Telecom and Verizon, Samsung has also established the specifications required for 5G trial services in Korea, as well as commercial FWA service in the U.S.

“Samsung has always been an active promoter of international cooperation with its 5G total solutions at the root,” said Wonil Roh, Vice President and Head of the Technology Strategy Group, Networks Business, Samsung Electronics. “These experiences are a validation of why operators worldwide find Samsung to be the most ideal partner for 5G network establishment.”