5G

The Network Upgrade

2020 was supposed to be a breakout year for the next generation of wireless communications—for suppliers, network operators, and end users. Though you may be expecting a “Narrator: It was not so,” global 5G deployments are largely pacing as planned. 

Supply: Pile it high

In a Q1 earnings call this week, Ericsson CEO Börje Ekholm said he expects the industry “to show resilience.” At the end of March, Ericsson had 86 commercial agreements and equipment in 29 live 5G networks across four continents.

• For sales, Ekholm projects near-term uncertainty—and slightly dampened Q2 demand—but didn’t withdraw 2020 financial targets. 

Its rivals? Huawei is in a dominant position globally and winning 5G contracts left and right in China. Nokia, on the other hand, has reportedly hired Citi to parry a hostile takeover bid from an unnamed suitor.

The networkers

Ericsson noted that while many 5G European investments have been delayed, that’s been offset by rising sales in China. In other Asian markets, 5G investment is increasing and commercial networks have launched as planned since late February, per Strategy Analytics. Even Mt. Everest’s peak has a 5G connection. 

With the T-Mobile-Sprint merger now finalized, Ericsson expects U.S. 5G investments to pick up in the second half of 2020. Verizon upped 2020 capital expenditures to $18.5 billion (a $500 million boost) to accelerate 5G deployment. And AT&T scrapped plans for a $4 billion stock buyback, partially to keep cash for 5G efforts. 

• But AT&T also noted it might cut back 5G capex. It’s difficult for technicians to set up new sites under social distancing measures, while local permitting processes have slowed. Conditions are far worse for U.K. technicians subject to widespread conspiracy theories related to the coronavirus. 

And the consumer

Economic downturn → less discretionary spending → fewer 5G phone purchases. Strategy Analytics forecasts smartphone sales to drop 21% in 2020.

Zoom out: Though 5G will most likely have fewer consumer end users, logistics companies, healthcare providers, and emergency services will continue adopting the technology.

AV

Robot's Got the Goods

Emerging Tech Brew has been tracking COVID-19’s impact on autonomous vehicles for a month. For AVs capable of delivery, deployment has accelerated. 

This week, SoftBank-backed Nuro said its new R2 robotic vehicles will begin contactless medical supply deliveries at the Sleep Train Arena, the former Sacramento Kings stadium that’s been repurposed into a temporary COVID-19 hospital. R2s will also deliver food, water, and other supplies to San Mateo County’s Event Center. 

What about robotaxis? 

• Earlier this month, AutoX opened what it calls Asia’s largest robotaxi facility in Shanghai. 
• Baidu is expanding its free AV ride-hailing service in Changsha, China. The service previously required vetting and a standalone app. Now, commuters can hail a ride via Baidu’s navigation app. 

As for self-driving software: “We don’t anticipate that COVID-19 will delay our progress in the long-term, largely due to our investments in virtual testing,” Aurora CEO Chris Urmson said in a statement to the Brew. The startup’s developers are remotely testing Aurora’s “Driver” software/hardware stack and building out HD maps. Aurora’s vehicle operators, who’d normally be riding on the road, are helping with data labeling and virtual tests.

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CRYPTO

Rebundling

Yesterday, Binance launched Bundle, a social payments app supporting cash and cryptocurrency transactions. While Binance incubated and seeded Bundle, it’s an independent entity with external investors. 

The app first went live in Nigeria, where users can buy, sell, and store digital/fiat currencies (including naira, the national currency, and bitcoin) without a fee. The app can also process card transactions and bank transfers. 

Bundle wants to be in 30+ countries by the end of 2020, but that’s just the start—the goal is to become a crypto on/off ramp for Africa and a payments superapp. 

The bullish case: Africa’s young user base is already comfortable using digital payments. An app that brings fiat and digital currencies into the fold could get serious traction. 

The bearish? There’s competition, such as Facebook’s Libra (albeit scaled back) and China’s digital currency project, currently known as DC/EP.

BITS & BYTES

Stat: Zoom hit 300 million daily users on April 21, up from 200 million on April 1 and ~10 million in December, according to the company. 

Quote: “It can also sound like we have all the scientific advances needed to re-open the economy, but in fact we do not”—Bill Gates in a blog post about the tools we need to fight COVID-19. 

Read: The Rockefeller Foundation proposed a COVID-19 data commons, i.e. a centralized digital platform for resource allocation, contact tracing, and medical records. Experts think this could help officials find recurrent outbreaks and promising treatments.

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WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Magic Leap has laid off about 1,000 employees, roughly half of its workforce. The AR company, which says it’s fully pivoting to enterprise, is likely looking for a buyer. 
• Vertical farms are seeing surging demand. 
• The U.K. will officially allow Huawei to build up to 35% of its non-core 5G network.
• For VR rental services, business is, as they say, booming.  
• Amazon may be testing facial recognition and automated license plate recognition for its Ring product line, per documents seen by Ars Technica. 
• Workplaces, schools, and retailers may condition reentry on installing the Google/Apple contract tracing app, a possibility I raised when first covering the system.
• Cloud bills are like rent for tech startups. Some larger companies can restructure contracts, but smaller ones are stuck, Bloomberg reports.  

GOING PHISHING

You can’t go to the aquarium to see fish, but you can come here to go phishing. Three of the following news stories are real; one is fake. Can you spot the odd one out?  

1. A Taiwanese official first discovered the coronavirus on a Reddit-like forum in December.
2. NASA engineers are driving Martian rovers and overseeing deep-space probes from their homes. 
3. Pigeon Post, a Dallas startup, is delivering handwritten letters by drone.
4. The U.S. Space Force has its first weapon.

MARKET RESEARCH

I spent more time than I should have reading through a recent Reddit thread with the prompt: “People no longer bound by their non-disclosure agreements, what can you now disclose?”

Let’s try to recreate this. If you have wild work tales and an expired NDA, would you care to spill the tea? Hit reply and let me know—we won’t share anything without your permission and everything stays anonymous.

TECH THINGAMABOBS

Office managers, take note: Matt Mullenweg’s five levels of distributed work, modeled after the five levels of self-driving. Mullenweg runs Automattic, a fully remote company with 1,100 employees in 60+ countries.  

For modern-day Buzz Aldrins: A mini satellite constellation tracker.

Tech conference-goers: Here’s a list of upcoming virtual offerings. Also, someone who had contracted COVID-19 attended CES in January .

If you’re a robot car: Watch a video of your ancestor, Google’s 2009 self-driving car, cruising for more than 1,000 miles around California.

GOING PHISHING ANSWER

Pigeon Post, the Dallas drone startup, doesn't exist.