Samsung’s network equipment arm hopes to get more 5G business from European carriers

Samsung might be the world’s biggest smartphone, TV, and memory chip brand, but its network equipment business isn’t as impressive. The company ranks fifth after the likes of Huawei, Ericsson, Nokia, and ZTE. The South Korean firm has been trying to expand its business with end-to-end 5G solutions, especially after Huawei got banned in several western markets.

Samsung Networks is now hoping to get more business from European network carriers as they expand their 5G networks. The company is currently working with Deutsche Telekom in the Czech Republic, Play Communications in Poland, and another major European network carrier in conducting 5G trials. The company already landed deals worth billions of dollars from NTT Docomo in Japan and Verizon in the US.

Apart from the European and North American markets, Samsung’s network arm is expanding in markets like Australia, New Zealand, India, and Southeast Asia. The company currently has a global market share of 10-15% in the network. However, Woojune Kim, Executive Vice President of Samsung Networks, said, “(the company’s) impressions have changed” in recent times, and more carriers are interested in working with the company.

The company first rolled out its 5G network in 2019, and there has been a 35% year-over-year rise in the number of new clients. Samsung Networks has developed various new technologies such as 5G vRAN, 5G network slicing, new 5G radios, 5G base stations, and 5G chips to improve the performance and efficiency of 5G networks. The company is also researching 6G telecommunication technologies.