China has been projected to lead the global adoption of 5G technology by 2023, according to research compiled by CCS Insight. CCS Insight have claimed that the country's booming market will ensure and facilitate that 5G is quicker out of the starting blocks than any other previous mobile technology.

Bluesky Cook Islands, the sole provider of fixed phone, mobile and broadband services to the Cook Islands, has increased the amount of satellite capacity it is using from SES Networks, in order to launch 4G+ service to Rarotonga and Aitutaki, the two key cities of the island nation.

Chinese telecommunications colossus Huawei has announced that it has signed a MoU with German city Duisburg in a collaborative effort to develop and subsequently implement a smart city strategy within the city.

Nokia and the United Arab Emirates General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) have entered into a strategic collaboration to drive the development of an end-to-end UAS ecosystem that will make the UAE the first country in the world to allow the operation of drones by both businesses and government agencies in a safe, secure and managed environment.

Nokia is to completely modernize the nationwide LTE network for Ukkoverkot, the Finnish private network operator offering wireless data communications services for infrastructure operators, the industrial IoT market, public safety authorities, the maritime industry and both residents and enterprises in remote areas.

Nokia will work with Alstom to deliver a private wireless network for the National Capital Regional Transport Corporation’s (NCRTC) Delhi to Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS). It will support European Train Control System (ETCS) Level 2 signaling to maintain safety for commuters on the high-speed rail route, currently under construction.

Sendai City and Nokia successfully conducted a test flight of a Nokia drone on a private LTE network provided by Nokia Digital Automation Cloud. They tested the potential use of drones during a tsunami or other disasters to help in prevention and mitigation efforts. The test verified that using a private LTE network to control and communicate with the drones is an effective means for enhancing situational awareness and communicating with the affected population during a disaster. This is the first time in the world this type of trial has been conducted.

US chip firm Qualcomm has announced that it has released a chipset which has been specifically designed based on 3GPP cellular standards for the 'connected cars'. In a statement issued to the press, Qualcomm introduced the 9150 Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything (C-V2X) chipset which combines LTE network connectivity with direct communications in the internationally harmonized 5.9GHz band.

Qualcomm Technologies, Verizon and Ericsson together successfully surpassed the Gigabit speed barrier, Ericsson said in a statement on August 21. The companies achieved an industry first with commercial silicon and network infrastructure with 1.07Gbps download speeds using Qualcomm Snapdragon X20 LTE Modem, the first to support Category 18 LTE, during an Ericsson lab trial.

As 5G begins to gain greater ground in today’s world, the ICT sector is beginning to realize its potential. The possibilities, with a network like this, are unfathomable. 5G offers tremendous revenue opportunities for telcos, which include opportunities beyond the smartphone. 

Singapore's Singtel is launching in phases, near-gigabit speeds on its LTE-Advanced network at selected high-traffic outdoor locations across the island. At 800Mbps, it is Southeast Asia's fastest Gigabit-class LTE mobile data peak speed, delivering up to 60 percent faster download speeds than prevailing LTE services.

Sri Lanka's national mobile network operator, Mobitel, has enhanced its 4G LTE network coverage by launching LTE on 900MHz spectrum. The initiative is Sri Lanka's first such deployment, thus significantly enhancing Sri Lanka's LTE coverage.

The US Territory of Puerto Rico was recently hit by the strongest storm in almost 90 years. Knocking out the island's electricity grid, 90 percent of cell phone sites stopped working, according to the US Federal Communications Commission. The recent string of monster storms in North America has drawn attention to the importance of critical communications and promoting public safety.

T-Mobile recently announced plans to roll-out its new 600MHz LTE network in the US, leveraging the massive haul of super-premium low-band spectrum the operator won in the government broadcast incentive auction concluded earlier this year. The announcement came just two months after the company received its spectrum licenses from the FCC.

T-Mobile, Qualcomm and Nokia achieved an industry first by exceeding Gigabit speeds using evolved, commercially-available 4G LTE. In tests at T-Mobile's lab in early September, download speeds of 1.175Gbps were achieved on T-Mobile's LTE network utilizing Nokia's 4.9G network powered by the Nokia AirScale Base Station and Qualcomm's Snapdragon X20 LTE modem.

Telenor announced the establishment of two new points of presence (PoP) in North America to meet customer demands in a high traffic region by enabling Voice and IPX based services, including LTE based signaling and data roaming. The two US PoPs add to the Telenor network which now includes 14 locations across North America, Europe and Asia.

The CTO of Australian incumbent Telstra has admitted that the telecommunications firm is pushing its gigabit LTE to maximize the most of its existing 4G network as it prepares for the forthcoming 5G era. Hakan Eriksson, CTO, said the primary objective behind Telstra's strategy is to improve 4G as much as possible in order to be properly prepared for the introduction of 5G technology.

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, announced its next-generation modem purpose-built for Internet of Things (IoT) applications such as asset trackers, health monitors, security systems, smart city sensors and smart meters, as well as a range of wearable trackers.