Samsung seeks to be a global top-three player in 5G mobile networks

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd is taking aim to emerge as a global top-three player in 5G mobile networks by moving quickly in markets like the US, an executive said, Reuters reported.

The world's top smartphone maker trails Nokia Corp, Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and Ericsson in the networks business, by a wide margin after backing CDMA and WiMax wireless technologies failed to gain traction globally.

The South Korean giant now saw an opportunity to level up fast and early on 5G, the wireless technology that telecom equipment makers are keen on developing as the next-generation standard.

"We plan to move quickly and want to be at least among the top three with 5G," Kim Young-ky, Samsung's network business chief, told Reuters in an interview.

"It's important to get in early."

On 5G wireless networks companies would offer data speeds tens of times faster than 4G technology, allowing futuristic products such as self-driving cars and smart-gadgets that tech firms expect to be in wide use in the near future.

The prime target of major network firms is the US, as it moves rapidly ahead with plans to open spectrum for 5G wireless applications. According to some US officials, the first large-scale commercial deployments would happen in 2020.

In April, Samsung set up a task force of 100 employees recruited from the IT company's departments dealing with smartphones, network communications, consumer electronics and semiconductors as it prepared for the next wave of digital networking.

''When you have to go a step further in a drastically changing environment, you have to combine forces from different departments and create a synergy effect,'' Kim Young-ki, Samsung Electronics president, said in an exclusive interview with JoongAng Ilbo, a South Korean daily newspaper published in Seoul. ''The team is the quintessence of each team's combined capacity in order for Samsung Electronics to prevail in the fifth-generation [5G] network market.''

''[By collaborating], when the new technology gets into practical use, we can immediately respond by introducing the latest devices and services using the technology in the market,'' Kim said.