5G/6G

Academia and key industry players have identified the D-Band, ranging from 110 GHz to 170 GHz, as a candidate frequency band for beyond 5G and 6G mobile communications as well as for future automotive radar applications. Rohde & Schwarz and IHP have characterisd D-band frequencies in over-the-air test setup for 6G and automotive radar

Qualcomm, Ericsson, Swisscom and Oppo have announced a step forward in the commercialisation of 5G in Europe, demonstrating 5G New Radio Carrier Aggregation across FDD and TDD bands along with 5G voice over a commercial 5G standalone network at Swisscom’s premises in Bern.

The COVID-19 pandemic is the black swan to disrupt the rollout of 5G. Although the pandemic has had little adverse impact on Telecoms so far, the resulting global economic crisis is likely to reduce the telecoms' investment in 5G infrastructure and harm the willingness of customers to adapt to 5G devices and applications.

Mouser Electronics has signed a global distribution agreement with Sequans Communications, a developer and provider of 5G and 4G chips and modules.

HUBER+SUHNER has launched its MASTERLINE Ultimate Micro (MLUM) compact and discreet fibre optic distribution box as part of its Network Densification product range, designed to ease installation and operation of 5G deployments.

Qualcomm Technologies has announced they have together enabled the world's first commercialisation of 5G sub-6GHz carrier aggregation (sub6-CA) in Japan, effective immediately, to bring multi-gigabit mobile experiences to DOCOMO customers.

Ranatec has announced it has delivered a 5G testing system to one of the big five (FAANG) US-based tech companies. In a significant 2020 product milestone, the Swedish manufacturer wraps up 2020 deliveries with a substantial order of 500K Swedish kroner, approximately €50K.

Marvell and Analog Devices have announced an advanced 4G/5G radio unit (RU) design that supports high antenna counts and multi-gigabit per second throughput for both integrated RAN and Open RAN deployments.

The UK Government and NEC have announced the launch of the NEC ‘NeutrORAN’ project, which will showcase the latest innovations in the Open Radio Access Network (RAN) space. The project will be used to test and demonstrate a multiple operator, neutral host solution using an Open RAN ecosystem.

2020 was a dramatic year for OTT content providers and Content Delivery Networks (CDNs). The shift to online living and remote working resulted in a massive surge in demand for content - from streaming services, to online gaming and video conferencing solutions.