The FirstNet initiative was born out of the 9/11 terrorist attacks that showed the need for a unified communications network

"We're dealing with legacy Cisco enterprise customers. They're used to buying that hardware and everything upfront," Logicalis' Chris Calvert said.

“A lot of people had heard about our unique framework ... so now they can actually feel it, touch it,” Hughes' Rajeev Gopal said.

The carrier paid more than $300 million for licenses that the Federal Communications Commission now can't release.

“I think we have an opportunity to grow the pie together,” Microsoft's Shawn Hakl said.

“It's a must have for any private network offering that anyone's providing out there today,” NTT's Shahid Ahmed said.

The vendor also named Sabrina Meng as its latest rotating chair, which could further cloud Huawei's relations with the United States.

“We have availability, we are in trials, and are the first ones to do that. Others have announced chips," Cisco's Guru Shenoy said.

"The CFOs of companies don't really think that cool technology is just good enough to pay extra for," AT&T's Amy Zwarico said.

“The general consumer is just numb to all of this at this point,” EY's Michael Misrahi said of recent operator cybersecurity breaches.

ABI Research predicts 5G-based fixed-wireless access connections will hit 72 million worldwide by 2027, representing 35% of the total FWA market.

Analysys Mason notes that operators should act aggressively if they want to move on this digital transformation opportunity.

“I am very happy to be the plumber of the world,” Tech Mahindra's Manish Vyas said.

“We intend for everybody at AT&to really lean in and to use [artificial intelligence] to do their job better and more effectively,” AT&T's Andy Markus said.

“Samsung continues to provide the template on how vendors can break into the [radio access network] ... market," IDC's Daryl Schoolar said.

The Chinese government in a statement protested the potential move, adding “Huawei accounts for nearly 60% of Germany's 5G network equipment.”

The firm found 46% of telecom CEOs think their company will not be economically viable in 10 years if they continue down their current operating path.

“Millimeter wave has arguably gone down as one of the greatest failures in the wireless world in recent memory,” PwC Partner Dan Hays said.

"[Open radio access network] timing didn't align with what we did. But going forward, we'll see where we go," President of Technology Neville Ray said.

“We recognize the strengths of the cloud and where we add value and that’s where we are focused on," telecom and edge CTO Ishwar Parulkar said.

Despite the push, analyst firms and operators have tempered market expectations.

The deployment will be across different locations in Japan, allowing for redundancy in the case of traffic demands or natural disasters.

The vendor's millimeter-wave antenna supports end-user facing connectivity and can act as part of a wireless mesh backhaul service.

“We’re at a point now, for better or worse, where there are so many things that we can do,” Mobi CEO Justen Burdette said.