The FCC has awarded an experimental radio license to AT&T for the purpose of testing standards-based 5G at the convention center in Austin, Texas. Per their application, AT&T will run three 28GHz fixed base stations, with connections to six compatible user devices at up to 100 meters. To show off the real-world capabilities of 5G, they’ll demonstrate 4K TV, mobile gaming, and more.
The Austin test project is due to launch in late July.
According to Calcalist, Apple has decided not to use Intel’s “Sunny Peak” 5G modem for their first 5G iPhone, which is planned to launch in 2020. It’s unclear which supplier Apple will turn to now for this critical component or how it will impact the timeline of their 5G phone development.
AT&T has progressed from field and lab trials to trialing their 5G fixed-wireless service to several residences in South Bend, Indiana. The results thus far are proving 5G’s capabilities, with one household reporting speeds of 1Gbps and latency under 20ms – performance that exceeds traditional home internet options and blows 4G out of the water. As president of AT&T Technology and Operations Melissa Arnoldi explained, this type of performance allows customers to use “bandwidth-heavy applications simultaneously and seamlessly — something that would be nearly impossible with current LTE technologies”.
AT&T’s 5G plans will continue in 2018 and 2019, with the first three large-scale rollouts planned for Dallas, Atlanta, and Waco.
Countries around the world have focused on harmonizing the 3.5GHz spectrum for 5G use on an international basis, but outdated regulations on that spectrum could impede the use of it in the U.S.
The current regulations were created under the assumption that the 3.5GHz spectrum would be used like Wi-Fi, with businesses or manufacturers and utilities installing antennas to facilitate private wireless networks, so licenses for 3.5GHz use are assigned using Census Tracks – which only cover a small area. The FCC and the mobile industry agree that assigning licenses based on Census Tracks would be entirely unfeasible for 5G deployments, and regulations will have to be changed to make 3.5GHz a realistic part of the path to 5G.
There’s no question that 5G will provide enormous advantages over older networks when it comes to speed and bandwidth capacity, but 5G does have a glaring limitation that will make it difficult to replace older networks for some time: signal penetration. The higher frequencies that will be utilized by 5G networks are less able to penetrate walls and other obstructions than lower spectrum, meaning DAS or small cells may be needed in office buildings and other indoor venues – but there may be limitations in utilizing those types of systems, currently used for 3G and 4G in signal-challenged spaces, with 5G.
AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson discussed today how the updates being made to their towers to support the first responder network FirstNet will also help with the transition to 5G.
“To build out this FirstNet capability, this first responder network, we have to go climb every cell tower. Literally, we have to go touch every cell tower over the next couple of years,” explained Stephenson. “As we’re touching those cell towers, every single one of them, we have a lot of spectrum in inventory. We will be lighting that spectrum up as we touch each cell tower.”
Once the physical upgrades to the towers are complete, all that will be necessary to “light up” 5G when the time comes is a simple software update. While the timeline for the actual widespread launch of their 5G network is likely a long one, Stephenson said that they expect the fiber build-out for the FirstNet and 5G networks to be complete in 14 million locations within the next 12 months.
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To bolster support towards their proposed merger, T-Mobile and Sprint filed statements with the FCC today reiterating the importance the merger would have towards bringing 5G to America. As has been their argument since the merge was first announced, the two companies say that a joint investment in 5G will lead to much more rapid development than if the two companies had to move forward with their own independent 5G networks.
The mobile industry announced today that the 3GPP has approved the 5G standalone specifications, which will pave the way towards the development of 5G networks that don’t rely on existing 4G networks (5G development has thus far had to leverage existing 4G technology as opposed to being a truly new and independent technology). The “Release 15” 5G standard, which took 34 months collaboration from countless industry contributors, sets forth the standards that will serve as the baseline of 5G development and deployment around the world.
Balázs Bertényi, Chairman of 3GPP TSG RAN, said: “The freeze of Standalone 5G NR radio specifications represents a major milestone in the quest of the wireless industry towards realizing the holistic 5G vision. 5G NR Standalone systems not only dramatically increase the mobile broadband speeds and capacity, but also open the door for new industries beyond telecommunications that are looking to revolutionize their ecosystem through 5G.”
Telecom equipment make Ericsson is predicting that the number of smart devices in use will quintuple over the next 5 years, thanks to the availability of 5G networks that will be able to handle the demands of so many devices. There are currently 700 million IoT devices in use, and Ericsson’s 2018 mobility report released today predicts 3.5 billion units by 2023, with 1 billion of those being operated over a 5G connection. The report also estimates that by that time, 20% of all mobile data traffic worldwide will be handled by 5G networks.
With the first city-wide 5G launches due this year, a dash to launch 5G-capable devices is sure to follow. Ericsson’s 5 year estimate may seem extreme, but their prediction of an explosion of smart devices is almost sure to come true!
Intel first discussed their plans to have 5G-capable modems ready for laptops in 2019 earlier this year, and they confirmed this week that they are still confident in those plans. At the Computex show in Taipei, Taiwan, Intel said that they expect their 5G “Goldridge” modem to be shipping in commercial devices including laptops from Acer, AsusTek, Dell, and HP by mid-2019, and Sprint is prepared to sell the 5G-capable gear. Like Intel, Sprint has made their commitment to being a big 5G player from the start clear, and selling Intel’s laptops will keep them at the forefront.
