Some operators have been driving the acceleration of the 5G standardization process, but the focus has been heavily on fixed wireless in many markets – partly because the biggest challenge of a new mobile platform is availability of attractive mobile devices, especially smartphones, to drive consumer adoption. However, Qualcomm, the company which drives that smartphone ecosystem like no other, predicts that 5G handsets will arrive as early as 2019, supporting the first wave of the 3GPP 5G NR standard. This wave will be non-standalone, meaning it will require an LTE host network, so the first smartphones will not only feature Qualcomm’s X50 5G modem, but also dual connectivity to LTE. This will also be important in markets where early devices…