Maryam Rofougaran, co-chief executive of Irvine-based 5G telecom equipment company Movandi Corp., says the coronavirus pandemic underscores the need for new wireless technology.
“The coronavirus outbreak and the rise in remote work has advanced the need for more robust 5G technologies in the U.S,” Rofougaran told the Business Journal on March 26.
“Last week, Verizon issued a press release stating the demands on bandwidth increased 75% over the previous week,” she noted. Her company posted on its LinkedIn page a CNBC report that “the coronavirus pandemic may fast-forward 5G adoption in the US.”
Rofougaran said the company is “ramping and expanding” various components of the millimeter wave system, which is designed for high-speed wireless broadband communications.
“The vitality of very fast wireless communication with low latency has become even more apparent during the current epidemic situation,” according to Rofougaran.
She sees “a continued operator investment” in commercial deployments in the high-frequency area that represents a major opportunity for Movandi.
5G is short for the fifth generation of cellular wireless technology now on its way in the U.S. It’s designed to provide high-bandwidth connectivity that can be up to 100 times faster than 4G LTE connections on today.
Skyworks 5G
Liam Griffin, chief executive of Irvine-based chipmaker Skyworks Solutions Inc., said 5G wireless networking will pick up speed by year-end, after current delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
People “are clamoring to get the technology,” Griffin told CNBC’s Jim Cramer in a remote interview on March 24. Griffin said current demand weakness is due to a “supply shock” amid the pandemic.
“It’s the supply chains in Asia and other parts of the world,” where lockdowns prevented work, according to Griffin.
“Demand that did not get executed in our Q1 or our Q2 will move forward into the back half of 2020 and certainly into 2021. We see this as a pause more than a complete deep dive. We think that things will come back.” See more on Skyworks, page 23.
Skyworks has introduced an array of components to support the shift to 5G.
That includes high-efficiency amplifiers to boost wireless signals and low-noise amplifiers to minimize additional noise. It also includes electronic devices known as circulators and isolators that “assure clean transmit signals” in wireless communications, the company said.
‘Huge Slowdown’
Brian Andersen, founder and CEO of consulting firm Telecomprehensive Solutions in Anaheim, said it will take at least 90 days to have a clearer picture of the 5G progress.
“On the private sector side of things, I think we’re going to see a huge slowdown of the rollout of 5G projects,” he told the Business Journal on March 26.
“Although construction and infrastructure are both critical operations businesses and are currently working through the social distancing efforts that are in place, my fear is that a substantial number of the workforce that’s delivering these critical projects are exponentially more exposed to the risk of infection.”
He added, “Considering that my projection for widescale rollout of 5G is that we won’t see ubiquitous adoption until 2025-2026, I don’t believe that the current situation will derail that time frame unduly. If we’re still dealing with this in another 18 months, I would absolutely revise that estimate to later in the decade.” n
