Samsung had very little presence in cellular networks, outside South Korea, before 5G, but its early success – crowned by its $6.6bn deal with Verizon – has not come out of nowhere. Long years of largely under-the-radar experience in deploying fixed wireless networks, and developing solutions for millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum, have finally paid off, converging to propel the Korean company into its strongest position yet in cellular networks. The foundation stones for this new strength were laid years ago, and the company has steadfastly continued to invest in its Networks business, despite limited results outside its home country, and occasional investor pressure to offload the unit to help improve Samsung’s overall finances. It sold CDMA networks in the 3G…