Qualcomm Announces First Gigabit Cellular Chip

Qualcomm Inc. on Thursday plans to announce a cellular chip that can transmit a billion bits of data a second, hoping to bring mobile users speed comparable to today's most advanced wired services.

The company said its forthcoming Snapdragon X16 modem chip can let smartphones or other mobile devices download data at rates of up to 1 gigabit—up from its prior top download speed of 600 megabits a second—and upload 150 megabits a second.

Qualcomm, the biggest maker of processors and modem chips for mobile phones, is announcing the technology a few hours before a meeting with analysts in its hometown of San Diego, Calif. Senior executives are expected to discuss strategies to boost the company's growth amid a slowdown in smartphone sales and other recent headwinds.

The new modem technology extends a series of speed increases in the fourth-generation technology called LTE over the past decade. Delivering speed advances takes substantial time and money, including spending on upgraded transmission equipment and new user handsets.

Only one carrier, Telstra Corp. in Australia, currently offers download speeds of up to 600 megabits a second, Qualcomm said. Most cellular carriers deliver far lower speeds; tests in 2015 by PC Magazine found most U.S. carriers' maximum download speeds were less than 100 megabits a second.

While smartphone users may not see gigabit speeds soon, the faster technology could have other impacts on communications markets, said Patrick Moorhead, an analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy. By roughly matching the speed of advanced fiber-optic networks, he said, wireless offerings could be used for nonmobile applications like speedy Internet access to groups of homes without the need for a cable.

"I think Qualcomm has new ideas about working with telecom companies to beam data wirelessly," Mr. Moorhead said.

Qualcomm's announcement precedes the Mobile World Congress, a major trade show in Barcelona, later this month that serves as a showcase for advances in the cellular industry. One hot topic will be early plans for next-generation 5G technology that is expected to succeed existing LTE technology somewhere between 2018 and 2020.

Cristiano Amon, an executive vice president who heads Qualcomm's chip business, in prepared remarks called the new Snapdragon X16 product "an important step towards 5G."

Qualcomm said sample quantities of the new chip are available now, with the first commercial products incorporating it expected in the second half of 2016.

Write to Don Clark at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 11, 2016 07:55 ET (12:55 GMT)

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