MWC Bites: NEC, NTT, Huawei, Qualcomm and more

Need to catch up on everything that's happening in Barcelona? Here's a recap of what we didn't get round to covering – and links to what we did.

Mobile World Congress in Barcelona is back – although in a more muted format for 2021. With many of the big players staying away altogether or appearing only virtually, it was only to be expected that it would be quieter than usual.

Figure 1: Socially distanced: A more muted reception this year for annual visit to MWC by the King of Spain and Pedro Sanchez, the Spanish prime minister.
(Source: La Moncloa on Flickr CC2.0)

However, day one offered only a handful of big-ticket moments and must-read stories. Here's what we didn't get round to covering:

NEC and NTT tie up for enterprise 5G

Japan-based operator NTT and NEC have announced they will be working together on enterprise 5G use cases, at a lab based in NTT DATA Deutschland's Munich offices.

The partners will be working together on open RAN solutions for business, developing prototypes and ultimately commercializing products created together.

The focus initially will be Europe's automotive industry, but the plan is to expand into manufacturing and other regions, including the US.

Swisscom picks AWS for 5G core, cloud and enterprise

Swiss telco Swisscom and AWS have announced that the operator's enterprise resource planning, operational support system and analytics and contact center will move to the Amazon Web Services cloud.

Swisscom's 5G network will also be migrated to standalone on the platform.

AWS will open data centers in Zurich so data can be held in Switzerland.

Huawei launches 5G product series taking multi-antenna technology to all bands

Embattled Huawei remains determined to prove it still has skin in the 5G game, despite its war with the US. The vendor launched a series of 5G products aimed at 1+N 5G target networks.

Figure 2: Line 'em up: Can Huawei's new line of 5G kit help it keep its head above water in the network game?
(Source: Huawei)

The company promised the new kit – which includes what they say is the industry's only 400MHz ultra wideband 64T64R massive MIMO – will let operators build multi-antenna technology into all 5G networks, on all bands.

Qualcomm announces Snapdragon 888 Plus 5G mobile platform

Qualcomm Technologies used day one to unveil the upgrade to its flagship Snapdragon 888.

The Snapdragon 888 Plus 5G Mobile Platform has been designed with a focus on intelligent entertainment, including AI-enhanced gameplay, streaming and photography. The vendor claims the step up will boost performance, speed and connectivity.

From the second half of 2021, Qualcomm says the platform will be included in smartphones from Asus, Honor, Motorola, Vivo and Xiaomi.

Missing out on MWC? Catch up on the latest from Mobile World Congress 2021 in Barcelona on our dedicated content channel here on Light Reading.

5G now available in 1,662 cities worldwide, says Viavi

Since the beginning of 2021, 5G reached another four countries (Cyprus, Peru, Russia and Uzbekistan) and 301 cities worldwide, according to Viavi Solutions.

This means around a third of countries have at least one 5G network.

The countries with the most 5G cities are China at 376, the US at 284, and the Philippines with 95, overtaking South Korea, which is now in fourth position with 85 cities. When it comes to regions, Asia-Pacific is top with 641 cities, closely followed by EMEA at 623. The Americas lags behind at 398 cities.

ZTE rolls out third-generation 5G indoor router

Figure 3: White out: It wouldn't be MWC without a new router or two.
(Source: ZTE)

Chinese vendor ZTE is rolling out its upgraded 5G indoor router. Designed for heavy data use in industries like broadcasting, the company says it's also intended for consumer use in smart home builds.

ZTE says it supports both 5G SA and NSA modes, as well as sub-6GHz and mmWave spectrum bands, and enables dual-path convergence of 5G and wired broadband, allowing dual gigabit access.

Day One on Light Reading:

— Fiona Graham, Editorial Director, Light Reading