The Snapdragon X55 modem will power 5G fixed broadband equipment for over 30 OEMs

Qualcomm has announced that over 30 original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) will start launching customer-premises equipment (CPE) for commercial 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) in 2020; furthermore, all of them will integrate the Snapdragon X55 modem. This means that, should a customer want to go wireless with their broadband in the future, this module is most likely to be the one present in their homes.

CPE (in terms of FWA, at least) is that hardware an internet service provider (ISP) installs in a given customer's residence in order to connect them to a new 5G fixed-broadband service. The rationale for this is that the new radio standard should deliver equivalent speeds to the cables or fiber-optics of today. It already exists to some degree, in the form of products such as the HTC 5G Hub. Now, a number of other OEMs have selected Qualcomm's 2nd-generation modem to build their own CPEs.

The X55 is rated to handle 5G of the mmWave, extended-range mmWave and sub-6GHz bands in this new respect. The OEMs that have signed up to use it in the same include Compal; Linksys; NETGEAR; Nokia; OPPO; Panasonic; Samsung; Sharp and ZTE. Huawei is one company notable for its absence on this list. However, it has its own Balong 5000 modem to offer its customers in the markets that remain open to it.