Super-Speedy 5G Mobile Network Slated to Kick Off at the 2018 World Cup Huawei and leading Russian carrier Megafon are honing the technology in the run-up to the 2018 games.
By Geoff Weiss •
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei and Russian mobile carrier Megafon are teaming up to kick off the world's first 5G mobile network, slated for debut at the 2018 World Cup.
Such a timeline predates widespread industry estimates that 5G wouldn't arrive until 2020, according to Huawei Products president Ryan Ding.
"We are confident of turning science-fiction-like service into a 5G reality for citizens in Russia and soccer fans around the world, two years ahead of the industry's estimated 5G introduction date," Ding said in a statement.
Related: How the World Cup Is Fueling a Social Media Frenzy (Infographic)
In an announcement yesterday, Huawei and Megafon said that they were beginning collaborative trials in the run-up to the World Cup, which will be held in 11 Russian cities in July 2018.
The rollout of hurtling 5G speeds -- amid an ever-crowding mobile landscape and a burgeoning Internet of Things -- has been hotly anticipated by tech companies and consumers alike.
Previously, South Korea's Ministry of Science and Technology announced plans to spend about $1.5 billion to build a national 5G wireless network to be commercially available by 2020. Such a framework would reportedly provide speeds 1,000 times faster than most 4G LTE networks, by which users would be able to download a full-length, 800-megabyte film in just one second.
Related: South Korea Is Building What Could Be the Future Standard in Wireless Speed
