Fills the Vacuum Left by Boycott of Huawei
Samsung Electronics is expanding its presence in the global 5G equipment market. Following the start of 5G services in the United Kingdom, Samsung’s 5G network business is expected to gain momentum with the launch of 5G services in the United States.
Vodafone’s British subsidiary launched the first commercial signal of a 5G base station, which was built in cooperation with Samsung Electronics, Dell, and Intel, on Jan. 19. The Vodafone project led by the British government aims to build 2,500 5G and 4G base stations by 2027. The project is expected to fuel the supply of Samsung Electronics’ 5G communication equipment.
Samsung Electronics provided technologies to commercialize virtual random access networks (vRANs) in this project. The vRNA technology creates a base station on a general server through software. The virtual base station offers the same performance as an existing hardware-based base station, allowing a telecom company to operate its network flexibly and efficiently.
The United Kingdom refused to use telecommunication equipment from Huawei and ZTE of China in 2021 due to national security concerns. This also served as a positive factor for Samsung. Huawei has to withdraw all 5G equipment that has already entered the United Kingdom by 2027.
As major European wireless carriers such as Vodafone, Orange, Deutsche Telecom, Telecom Italy, and Telefonica are calling for the introduction of next-generation communication technologies, Samsung Electronics’ role in the European 5G market is expected to grow further in the future. Analysts expect that it will also affect the market shares of Nokia and Ericsson.
On the same day, Verizon, a U.S. mobile carrier, launched 5G network services based on Samsung Electronics’ vRANs. Unlike low-band and ultra-high-band frequency 5G services that have been commercialized in the United States, Verizon successfully balanced speed and service provision ranges by utilizing 3.7 to 3.98 GHz band frequencies, experts say.
Samsung Electronics inked a 5G equipment supply contract worth 7.8 trillion won with Verizon in August 2020, following a 4G and 5G equipment supply contract in 2018. The Korean tech giant signed a contract to supply 5G and 4G communication equipment to Canadian mobile carrier SaskTel in March 2021 and started equipment delivery in December.