(Yicai Global) Nov. 13 -- US chipmaking giant Qualcomm is optimistic about the prospects of fifth-generation network development in China and looks forward to continued cooperation with the country's mobile network ecosystem, the firm’s chief executive officer said today.

“Qualcomm has been working with the Chinese mobile network ecosystem for more than 25 years,” Steve Mollenkopf said via video link at this year’s China Development Forum in Beijing. The firm continues to advance industry development even during this challenging time, he added.

The San Diego-based firm has also helped China’s smartphone makers Oppo Mobile Telecommunications, Xiaomi, Vivo Communication Technology and Lenovo Group to expand their business globally through its ‘5G Pioneer’ initiative. Beijing-based Xiaomi is now the fourth largest smartphone brand in Europe and the US.

There is a growing digital divide between networks and policy makers urgently need to fix this, Mollenkopf said. The deployment of the 5G millimeter wave, which are an extremely high frequency band of radio frequencies that underpin 5G capabilities, will be key to doing this, he said.

Qualcomm has recently completed testing millimeter waves in the 26 gigahertz frequency band at the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology’s MTNet laboratory, he said. The tests will benefit China and the whole world, he added.

5G will have a positive effect on households and companies in every sector in both urban and rural areas, he said. For example, the deployment of Fixed Wireless Access will provide schools, hospitals, city halls and other institutions with the speed of fiber optics-like wireless connection through millimeter waves in a cost-effective and efficient manner that can overcome 'last mile' difficulties in rural areas.

Editor: Kim Taylor