MediaTek Inc (聯發科) yesterday said it is testing its 5G chips that support millimeter-wave technology at the company’s research-and-development (R&D) center in Hsinchu in collaboration with Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) to accelerate the rollout of the world’s first chips using the technology.
MediaTek’s announcement came after the world’s largest 5G handset chip supplier built a strong presence in 5G chips using other technologies, driven by chips that support the 6 gigahertz band or lower.
The partnership with Chunghwa Telecom offers favorable conditions for MediaTek to introduce the new 5G chips to the US, Europe and Japan, the companies said in a joint statement.
Photo: Grace Hung, Taipei Times
MediaTek has cooperated with more than 100 telecoms worldwide to certify its 5G chips, it said.
To create the environment needed for testing, Chunghwa Telecom has deployed 5G non-stand-alone mobile networks in MediaTek’s 5G R&D center, utilizing the telecom’s mid-band 3.5 gigahertz and high-band 28 gigahertz bands, the statement said.
MediaTek told investors in January that its millimeter-wave system-on-a-chip has been certified by a major global operator, with mass production scheduled to begin in the second half of this year for the global market.
MediaTek said it expects the worldwide 5G penetration rate to surpass 50 percent this year, compared with slightly more than 35 percent last year.
That means about 700 million 5G smartphones would be shipped this year, up 40 percent from 500 million units last year, the company said.
Separately, MediaTek said it has won priority status to acquire the superficies rights for a 1,736m2 plot in Hsinchu for NT$3.77 billion (US$130.78 million), the company said in a Taiwan Stock Exchange filing yesterday.
The land is owned by the Railway Bureau, it said.
MediaTek was given the right to develop the land near Hsinchu’s high-speed rail station for 70 years, the bureau said in a statement.
The chipmaker plans to spend NT$9 billion on the development project and create 3,000 new jobs, the bureau said.
In a separate statement, MediaTek said it is planning to build an office building at the same site, as that would boost talent acquisition of R&D engineers to support the company’s bullish prospects.
MediaTek plans to hire 2,000 new employees this year, the company said.
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