Feb 2

1. What is 5G (CNBC)

5G is a new, faster network with the potential to revolutionize the Internet. The obvious application of 5G is, it will bring faster downloads (your 3 hour film in 6s?) and faster interaction in video games, Awesomeeee!. However, the heretofore impact of this upgrade is the huge boost in data processing and real-time updates, which will fuel the development of self-driving cars and IoT.

2. Outsmarting the 5G smartphone challenge: How telcos can reinvent their handset business (McKinsey)

While the handset expenses have already strained the margin, the 5G upgrade cycle will bring a cost-management challenge for operators. One solution could be assigning a dedicated executive senior to manage end-to-end device life-cycle, which they have not done before as hardware device is only an ancillary revenue stream.

This E2E management approach includes 7 activities: Fund, Range, Buy, Distribute, Sell, Return and Repair/Resell. Most outstanding examples are presented in these three key activities:

• Fund: Securitization and Financing. For example, operators can off-load portfolios or tranches of their smartphone-related balance sheet to a financing company, which in turn sells bonds secured on the smartphone receivables to private investors.
• Sell: Insurance, accessory, and connected devices sales. (1) Offer a branded insurance plan that usually is bundled with additional value-added services such as password protection and cloud storage. (2) outsource insurance-related work to specialized providers. (3) Improve bundling and cross-sell. (4) Embed subscriptions such as screen insurance, annual updates and streaming videos. 
• Repair/resell: Re-commerce strategy. Ex: serve as strategic partners to OEMs to help distribute used phones in developing markets

3. How Huawei became America’s tech enemy No. 1 (Quartz)

Huawei has grown to become the world’s top provider of Telecom equipment, with over $100B in revenue. The article illustrates the summary of all Huawei’s activities in the US since 2011, with a number of collaboration with US telecom firms, along with “also” many privacy violation accusations. Huawei is now viewed as the poster child for the anxiety of Chinese hacking. The worst came when in 2019, Trump made an order that blacklisted the company and cut it off from US supply chains.