Qualcomm, China Unicom and Chinese OEMs Initiate China’s 5G Rollout

Qualcomm Technologies, has announced its support for China Unicom’s 5G rollout in collaboration with device OEMs nubia, OnePlus, OPPO, Vivo, Xiaomi and ZTE – all of which participated in the launch with devices powered by the flagship Snapdragon 855 Mobile Platform with the X50 5G Modem with integrated RF transceiver and Qualcomm Technologies’ RF front-end solution.

China Unicom announced at the conference that it is the first announced Chinese operator expected to deliver 5G experiences to consumers.

The companies are also scheduled to showcase readiness for the rollout of 5G devices and networks in China via live 5G demonstrations at the 2019 China Unicom Partner Conference taking place in Shanghai from April 23rd to 25th. The live demonstrations plan to feature over-the-air (OTA) connections and applications using China Unicom’s live 5G network and OEM mobile devices using Qualcomm Technologies’ solutions. This collaboration highlights efforts to accelerate the availablity of 5G mobile devices and services in China starting this year.

The live 5G network is expected to cover the event space at the China Unicom Partner Conference, allowing attendees to experience a variety of rich 5G use cases and mobile experiences firsthand, including HD video streaming, cloud gaming, web browsing and data realtime sharing between devices and cloud.

With 5G mobile devices powered by Qualcomm Technologies’ mobile platforms and 5G modems, consumers can now benefit from multi-gigabit peak speeds and extreme low-latency in smartphones. Qualcomm Technologies’ 5G solutions are enabling Chinese OEMs to participate in the global 5G opportunity by helping them to address the exponential increase in device design complexity that comes with the next generation of mobile technology.

“For the past decades, our technology has been a foundation for the wireless evolution. It takes many years of R&D, specification, prototyping, testing, trials and product development to bring a new generation of mobile technology to China and the world,” said Frank Meng, Chairman, Qualcomm China, QUALCOMM International, Inc. “Like previous generations, 5G is the result of more than a decade of collaborative efforts by Qualcomm Technologies and our ecosystem partners, with the mission of preparing the mobile industry for 5G rollout starting this year. We’re excited for Chinese consumers to experience 5G’s truly transformative wireless experience in 2019.”

“China Unicom is excited to work closely with the broader ecosystem to accelerate 5G launch in China. We are preparing for the arrival of the 5G era,” said Qiang Fu, general manager, network expansion department, China Unicom. “Because accelerating the path to 5G in the unified 3GPP specification is critical to the industry and consumers, China Unicom has been committed to collaborating with partners across the industry to provide users with 5G NR-compliant products and services that will enable successful 5G commercialization.”

“nubia is collaborating with Qualcomm Technologies and China Unicom in many fields including the new nubia alpha smartwatch with a flexible display launched recently,” said Fei Ni, co-founder and senior vice president, nubia. “For the upcoming 5G rollouts, we believe that collaboration throughout the industry chain will help us achieve greater win-win results in the overall 5G business. Meanwhile, we also hope to allow Chinese consumers to first enjoy the new experiences enabled by 5G.”

“OnePlus has a strong history of working with Qualcomm Technologies. Using Qualcomm Technologies’ innovations, OnePlus can actively participate in the global commercialization of 5G,” said Pete Lau, founder and chief executive officer, OnePlus. “Thanks to this relationship we will become one of the first OEMs to introduce commercial 5G smartphones in 2019 and deliver true 5G experiences to consumers in China and around the world.”

“With the beginning of 5G commercialization, we are combining OPPO’s R&D investments in 5G technology with the cutting-edge Snapdragon 855 Mobile Platform, and hope to bring innovative 5G experiences to consumers worldwide,” said Levin Liu, vice president, OPPO and president, OPPO Research Institute. “As 5G is a must-follow trend for OPPO, we will actively join partners along the industry chain to explore innovative 5G use cases and deliver revolutionary experiences in the era of everything being fused together.”

“5G is an important technology that will further improve people’s lives and drive social development. As one of the world’s leading OEMs, Vivo has been working with ecosystem partners such as Qualcomm Technologies to drive 5G deployment and commercialization,” said Haihui Gong, general manager of 5G research, Vivo. “Now, Vivo has already showed 5G smartphone prototypes to the media and invited them to experience 5G-enabled basic applications including HD video calls, online video streaming and gaming. Vivo is expected to launch 5G smartphones powered by Snapdragon 855 Mobile Platform in the mid-2019 and offer consumers with cutting-edge 5G smart experiences.”

“Xiaomi has been working closely with Qualcomm Technologies and operators. With 5G’s imminent rollout, we are pleased to team up with ecosystem leaders to drive the rapid development of 5G in China,” said Bin Lin, co-founder and president, Xiaomi. “This year we were among the first to announce a 5G smartphone powered by the Snapdragon 855 Mobile Platform. We are excited to be able to demonstrate revolutionary 5G applications on China Unicom’s live networks, moving 5G closer to Chinese consumers.”

“5G will not only enhance today’s use cases, but also drive the development of new applications. In the commercialization of 5G technology, ZTE has been actively cooperating with industry leaders, including Qualcomm Technologies, to achieve 5G end-to-end connections and applications, and we look forward to the new experiences that 5G will create,” said Feng Xu, chief executive officer, ZTE Mobile Devices.

The 5G demonstrations are scheduled to be on display at the Qualcomm Technologies booth, Stand A-01, at the China Unicom Partner Conference from April 23-25. Qualcomm Technologies also is working with China Unicom to hold a 5G Forum at the event, with the theme of “5G Devices: Industry Collaboration and Innovation”, the afternoon of April 24. The forum is conceived to unite experts across the mobile ecosystem and discuss the unprecedented possibility that 5G brings to the industry and users.