Broadband Breakfast Interview About the Future of 5G with John Godfrey of Samsung
Greater availability of mid-band spectrum has kick-started 5G through better signal propagation, penetration and carrying capacity.
July 11, 2021—As one of the world’s most prolific technology companies, Samsung is instantly associated with many information and communications technologies, including smartphones and semiconductors. Through both of these, and through other partnerships, Samsung is also driving the pace of change in 5G network equipment and in policy deployment.
In this interview with Samsung Electronic America’s Senior Vice President of Public Affairs John Godfrey, he and Broadband Breakfast Editor and Publisher Drew Clark discussed both the past and the future of 5G.
Godfrey explained that Samsung’s work on 5G goes back a decade. Indeed, now the world is on the precipice of a 5G-connected society through a combination of technological advances and policy choices.
Broadband Breakfast Live Online hosted a six-part series, “A No-Nonsense Guide to 5G” in sponsorship with Samsung Electronics America. Links to each episode in the series are posted are at the bottom of this Sponsored Video.
In particular, in the United States, the greater availability of mid-band radio frequency auctions in this spectrum has provided a “sweet spot” of good signal propagation, penetration, carrying capacity, and transmission speeds.
The hope, Godfrey says, is that 5G will subsume all cellphones, globally as well as in the U.S. More than 60 countries have deployed 5G networks today.
“By this time next year, you will not even need to think about whether your carrier has a 5G network or your phone supports 5G,” he said. “It will be so mainstream, thanks to this mid-band spectrum deployment.”
Godfrey described how the existing telecom landscape has changed over the years—and even over the past several months—with more 5G capable devices available than ever.
Samsung has been a part and parcel in this trend, designing affordable 5G phones such as the Galaxy A32 5G, with a price point as low as $200. Though the flagship models are more expensive, as 5G continues to become more common place, the financial barriers to entry to a 5G network will also continue to fall, he said.
While the world is only at the beginning of the 5G era, he said, as the technology becomes ubiquitous, new apps and services will become available. These will be the true test of the 5G era, he said.
As more carriers shift from low-band to mid-band spectrum, then bandwidth throughput will jump significantly.
Further, continuing to open up millimeter wave spectrum for deployment in the U.S. will also facilitate greater capacity for these new innovative services and apps. For example, he said, Samsung now supports 5G in 11 distinct bands ranging from 600 MegaHertz (MHz) all the way to 40 GigaHertz (GHz).
But millimeter wave bands are not a silver bullet either. But it will be extremely valuable in specific areas in the U.S. that have cleared mid-band spectrum for 5G use. That said, the U.S. is unlikely to have millimeter wave networks deployed coast-to-coast.
See “Robert Kubik, John Godfrey and Derek Johnston: After a Decade of Progress, What’s Next for 5G?,” Broadband Breakfast, June 8, 2021
This Broadband Breakfast interview is sponsored by:
Events in “A No-Nonsense Guide to 5G” include:
- Wednesday, October 14, 2020, 12 Noon ET — “A No-Nonsense Guide to 5G: The Hype and the Reality of 5G”
- This opening panel will set the stage for Broadband Breakfast Live Online’s consideration of the policy, technology and practical questions around the 5G wireless standard. What is 5G, and why is there so much buzz about it? How much of an improvement is it over prior generations of wireless? In other words: What is real, and what is hype? How the issues of trusted partners, rights-of-way deployment, and spectrum policy interact? Where is 5G seeing early successes, and what are the stumbling blocks?”
- Wednesday, October 28, 2020, 12 Noon ET — “A No-Nonsense Guide to 5G: National Security and Trusted Partners”
- This panel will consider the global landscape for the 5G equipment ecosystem. It will consider issues in core networks, radio access networks and in handset equipment. How has the global landscape changed? Will 5G benefit from – or suffer because of – a new Cold War with China? How are American companies reacting to federal government initiatives for trusted partners? Where can the U.S. turn for solutions and alternatives to Chinese manufacturers?
- Wednesday, November 18, 2020, 12 Noon ET — “A No-Nonsense Guide to 5G: A Case Study of Transformative Apps in the Enterprise”
- 5G is seeing its first real successes in the enterprise marketplace. To glimpse the future more accurately, Broadband Breakfast Live Online will consider case studies of applications in enterprise environments. What technologies and processes bring 5G success to the business marketplace? What needs to happen to bring 5G successes to the consumer marketplace?
- Wednesday, December 9, 2020, 12 Noon ET — “A No-Nonsense Guide to 5G: Wireless Infrastructure, Municipal Rights-of-Way and the 5G Rural Fund”
- To realize the promise of 5G, far more base stations — wireless infrastructure facilities — will be necessary. 5G facilities and towers may not be as big as in previous generations of wireless technology. Still, the need for far more facilities has already created tensions with municipalities over rights-of-way. How can these conflicts be minimized? What are smart cities already doing to expedite wireless infrastructure deployment? Can the process be improved?
- Wednesday, January 27, 2021, 12 Noon ET — “A No-Nonsense Guide to 5G: The Adoption and Use of 5G Broadband”
- What are some of the likely drivers of 5G equipment and services? How have existing consumer use cases been received? Are there 5G use cases that could help close the digital divide by elevating broadband utilization among communities of color and low-income populations? What can we expect from 5G technology in 2021?
- Wednesday, February 10, 2021, 12 Noon ET — “A No-Nonsense Guide to 5G: Spectrum Policies to Advance Better Broadband”
- More than simply the next generation of wireless technology, 5G deployments make use of radio frequencies from an extremely wide range. For example, some 5G deployment are using mid-band spectrum between 3.4 GigaHertz (GHz) and 6 GHz. But 5G networks also promise tap into spectrum between 24 GHz and 100 GHz. It deploys these millimeter bands using network slicing and other advanced wireless tools. What new spectrum policies are necessary for 5G to flourish?
