FirstNews Briefs: Samsung's Leadership Structure; Nokia 5G Call in France

The world’s largest smartphone maker could fall under a new ownership structure if South Korea’s top antitrust official gets his way.

Reuters reports that Korea Fair Trade Commission Chairman Kim Sang-jo this week characterized Samsung Group’s current organization — which includes its flagship Samsung Electronics — as “not sustainable,” and that he has urged embattled heir Jay Y. Lee to consider changes.

Kim and other critics of the country’s large conglomerates argue they utilize complex shareholding structures to maintain control of their businesses within one family.

Nokia announced this week that it conducted a 5G call earlier in the month in partnership with French telecom SFR.

The call was completed over-the-air on 3.5 GHz spectrum using a 3GPP-compliant 5G New Radio system — a first for France.

“Nokia 5G NR systems use smart antennas to deliver multi-gigabit throughput speeds and millisecond low-latency,” the telecom equipment giant said in a statement. “This will enable operators such as SFR to increase network capacity in spectrum below 6 GHz frequency bands to deliver wide-area coverage.”

Location technology firm PoLTE Corp. this month appointed Ed Chao as its new CEO.

Chao, a former executive at T-Mobile, was promoted from his position as CTO.

“The Location of Things is forecast to be a $71 billion market by 2025, and PoLTE, along with its partners, is well-positioned to take a lead role in the connected device ecosystem,” he said in a statement.