HTC, even in its financially-emaciated state, isn’t giving up on phones, but it is giving some time to developing something much like what AT&T would call a “puck” for the start of the 5G age.

The manufacturer will debut a 5G Mobile Smart Hub for Sprint in the first half of next year that will run with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X50 modem. Aspects of this product are vague at the moment, but it is hinted that “multiple devices” will be able to connect to the hub and access 5G cellular network speeds — that sounds like a hotspot to us, but more details are to come.

Earlier on, Sprint announced that it would have the first integrated 5G smartphone on its network in early 2019 with LG doing the manufacturing work on that project.