Qualcomm: first devices with 4G above 1Gbit/s coming this year

Devices that support LTE with maximum speeds above 1Gbit/s may be released this year or early next year. So says processor maker Qualcomm. The maximum has so far been 600Mbit/s with the modem in the Snapdragon 820 and 821.

It is unknown which modems or processors will be in those devices and whether they are smartphones. Qualcomm CEO Christiano Amon says in the discussion of the quarterly figures that the devices with support for 4G with maximum speeds above 1Gbit/s will come out a lot next year and ‘some early models’ could appear as early as this year.

Qualcomm has already supplied the hardware for such devices to manufacturers, who are currently testing it. Before users with such devices can achieve speeds above 1Gbit/s, carriers must support it, by also offering 4G on the 5GHz frequency of Wi-Fi. Providers are wary of this because they are afraid of disrupting Wi-Fi signals. The technology is called ‘lte assisted access’ and is part of 4g technology lte advanced pro. In the Benelux, providers currently offer 4G with maximum speeds of usually 225Mbit/s or 300Mbit/s.

Not only 4g with a speed of 1Gbit/s or higher is coming soon, according to Qualcomm, the company wants to deliver the first hardware for use with 5g from 2018 or 2019. Developments are going faster than the company previously thought, so modems for 5g should also be available sooner.