At the 4G/5G Summit in Hong Kong on Monday, Qualcomm announced the first 5G modem worldwide, the Snapdragon X50.
The 5G modem will not be available until 2018 or 2019, but it will be able to download at speeds up to 5Gbps, which is five times faster than the fastest 4G modem (also from Qualcomm) and 100 times faster than the LTE network used by most cell phone carriers, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The modem will use mmWave technology, which has had some difficulty passing through solid and semi-solid objects, but will use multiple antennas and beam tracking to go around solid objects.
A 4G signal can be used as a backup when 5G isn’t available or isn’t working effectively, Forbes reported.
Most U.S. telecomm networks don’t plan to offer 5G coverage until at least 2020, and standards haven’t even been established yet to govern 5G coverage.
Verizon has started to prepare for 5GTF technology to be launched in 2018, and Korea Telecom has announced 5G-SIG specifications, according to Forbes.
Chips will be tested in some products in 2017 and 2018.
Qualcomm has been a leader in cellular modem technology for some time now and is showing its commitment to being at the cutting edge for years to come. The X50 5G will operate at a 28 GHz frequency, according to Ars Technica, a frequency several other chipmakers are investigating, but none has yet decided to use.
“Utilizing our long history of LTE and Wi-Fi leadership, we are thrilled to deliver a product that will help play a critical role in bringing 5G devices and networks to reality,” Qualcomm Executive Vice President Cristiano Amon said in a news release.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.