Qualcomm announced Wednesday it is launching 5G wireless service for Android smartphones in Switzerland, marking the first commercial availability in Europe.
The San Diego-based wireless pioneer is partnering with Swisscom and device manufacturers OPPO, LG Electronics, Askey and WNC to roll out the service this year.
“Swisscom is committed to maintaining our technology lead and to this end have been working with Qualcomm Technologies and other infrastructure partners for the past few years,” said Christoph Aeschlimann, chief technology officer at Swisscom. “The future of Switzerland as an innovation hub hinges on the network and we are delighted to bring this to consumers in 2019.”
All of the smartphones will use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 855 processor and associated chips to provide the new level of connectivity.
“Qualcomm Technologies is proud to support Swisscom on the launch of the first commercial 5G network in Europe,” said Enrico Salvatori, president of Qualcomm Europe. “This milestone is testament to the strong collaboration that took place across the ecosystem to accelerate 5G commercialization by one year.”
5G stands for 5th generation wireless system and promises a tenfold increase in speed from the current 4G. For example, with 5G a full HD movie can be downloaded in a matter of seconds.
