At present 5G networks are using a combination of technologies, a lower frequency version, called "sub-6" which works well over long distances but delivers limited improvements in terms of speed, while a faster version of 5G uses millimeter wave (mmWave) technology.
The mmWave technology is most useful in dense areas where many people will be connecting to mobile networks at the same time - a good example being at a concert or a sports venue where thousands of people could be looking to stream video to their social networks.
Qualcomm has helped to develop the standards that make mmWave devices compatible around the world, and phone makers such as Apple are using the company's chip technology to access the benefits of this technology .
However, according to Qualcomm handsets can only take advantage of what carriers offer, so the news that more than 30 carriers and gear makers are now committing to using the faster technology is seen as giving it a real boots - among the companies who have joined this new industry-wide development are China Unicom, Deutsche Telekom and Australia's Telstra.
"We actually haven't see a whole lot of millimeter wave outside the US and Japan, and some limited deployments in Europe and Korea so far, but that's expanding quite rapidly," said Durga Malladi, Qualcomm's senior vice president and general manager of 5G technologies.
Qualcomm's chips have a significant technological lead in millimeter wave technology, so it could benefit significantly should the technology become more widely adopted.
