By Kavit Majithia

Qualcomm insists SA 5G can keep operators afloat until 6G

Alejandro Holcman, SVP of Corporate Engineering at Qualcomm, argued standalone (SA) 5G will ensure MNOs remain competitive until the 6G era begins, although he conceded adoption of the technology to date has been slower than the company had hoped.

Holcman told MWC Daily News SA is the cornerstone for many of the advanced capabilities in 5G, such as network slicing, wireless ethernet, time-sensitive communications, mobile broadband using satellite, extended reality and even Reduced Capability (RedCap) new radio technology.

“This is why SA 5G is the necessary architecture for 5G-Advanced to deliver new innovations and value, so MNOs can remain competitive until the time comes to deploy 6G,” he said.

However, the Qualcomm executive revealed SA 5G has not yet been deployed as fast and as widely as expected, noting these transitions could sometimes be challenging depending on various spectrum situations. “They take time as we have seen in past technology migrations. We are only in the beginning of our epic 5G journey,” he said.

Addressing the 5G-Advanced opportunity for enterprises, he said industries with large operations areas like logistics, ports, utilities, large manufacturing and mining are likely to be the first group of beneficiaries as they build out IoT solutions.

Holcman also noted the importance of RedCap, which he described as 5G’s answer to many mid-tier IoT use cases, where cost-effectiveness and power-efficiency are just as important as being able to use capabilities “which set 5G apart from older connectivity technologies”.

“The SA 5G network architecture is essential for deploying RedCap devices. 5G-Advanced further improves RedCap efficiencies and brings non terrestrial networks support to RedCap devices for the broadest of operational footprints.”

Holcman will be speaking on the 5G Advanced: Completing The Enterprise Opportunity tomorrow at 11am on MWC Stage A, Hall 6.