On this special episode of The Six Five - Insiders Edition hosts Daniel Newman and Patrick Moorhead welcome Cristiano Amon, President of Qualcomm to discuss the impact COVID-19 has had on the tech industry and technologies like 5G.

 

Qualcomm’s Resilient Culture in the Spotlight During COVID-19

 

Qualcomm has always prided itself on its resilient culture and while this pandemic is definitely unprecedented, it’s not the first time Qualcomm has been put to the test in recent years. Currently 90 percent of Qualcomm’s workforce is working from home with 10 percent of employees still working on campus. Cristiano shared that the company is still hitting benchmarks and is seeing 90 percent productivity level. A lot of processes got put to the test, but employees rose to the challenge and are making it work.

 

Cristiano also shared that managers and leaders have seen a shift in how they operate. They have more responsibility now to over-communicate and maintain engagement with employees. Teams across the organization are having more video meetings and the company is seeing more messages via collaboration tech to keep morale up among employees.

 

Embracing the Opportunity

 

Times like this give companies the opportunity to show who they really are and many in the tech space are going above and beyond to do just that. For example, carriers all over the globe proved to be invaluable as other businesses are depending on them to remain connected and keep people employed.

 

Qualcomm has had a long history of philanthropic endeavors so it’s no surprise that the company has donated money and resources to a variety of organizations locally and nationally. For instance, when the pandemic forced schools to shift to remote learning, Qualcomm donated laptops to underserved students in the San Diego community.

 

Cristiano shared how Qualcomm shifted their own supply chain to help other companies secure parts needed to make ventilators. They also started using 3D printers to make molds for masks that many hospitals and medical providers around the country are desperate for. These are just a few examples from an extensive list that reaffirm Qualcomm’s mission to embrace the opportunity to use technology to make our communities and world better.

 

Wireless and 5G Technologies Contributing in the Future

 

We are seeing a few shifts right now at home and across a variety of industries when it comes to wireless and 5G technology. People are realizing the power that these technologies can deliver. Here are just a few examples:

 

1. Enterprise Transformation at Home. People are upgrading their WiFi networks, buying new devices, and improving their home connections to be able to handle the increased bandwidth to maintain productivity during this work from home experiment.
2. Mindset Shift for the CIO. Prior to COVID-19. CIOs mostly viewed 5G and other wireless technologies through the lense of “how will this fit into my system.” Now there’s a shift to “how to adapt our system to serve my workforce,” which has included upgrades to the cloud, collaboration platforms, and turning to ACPCs.
3. Use Cases in Remote Learning and Telehealth. Medical providers and schools the world over have been forced to accelerate their technology transformation. Digital transformation has been on the back burner for many years in these industries, but now it is the number one priority.

 

COVID-19 is Accelerating 5G Build Out

 

The technology that has seen the most growth during the COVID-19 is clearly 5G. This unfortunate situation has put pressure and spotlight on telecom companies to keep companies and individuals connected.

 

The focus for a 5G rollout until now had been in urban areas, but with most people at home in suburban areas carriers are making upgrades to support network capacity that hadn’t seen this demand before.

 

In general, carriers are able to build more now that there are fewer people out in the streets. Construction is happening faster than before with a resolve to make connectivity stronger. More base stations are being built, quotas and goals are being met before deadlines. In China, carriers built 150 thousand base stations in the first quarter alone and will easily meet the goal of one million base stations by the end of the year.

 

On the consumer side, while the roll out has been slow, 30 percent of phone activations in China were 5G devices in March — a huge leap forward. 

 

And while not every country or region is seeing success, the economies that had previously embraced 5G are doing well now.

 

If you’d like to learn more about Qualcomm, the advancement of 5G, and other technologies please visit their website. Be sure to listen to the full episode below to hear more insights from Cristiano, Daniel, and Patrick. While you’re at it, don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode.