Since moving forward with their merger with Sprint, T-Mobile has made it very clear that they are enormously committed to an aggressive 5G development plan. CEO John Legere confirmed that the rollout will being with 30 cities receiving 5G in 2018, including major markets New York and Los Angeles, with a commercial launch in 2019 and nationwide coverage by 2020.
LONDON (Reuters) – T-Mobile US (TMUS.O) named Nokia (NOKIA.HE) to supply it with $3.5 billion(2.67 billion pounds) in next-generation 5G network gear, the firms said on Monday, marking the world’s largest 5G deal so far and concrete evidence of a new wireless upgrade cycle taking root.
No.3 U.S. mobile carrier T-Mobile – which in April agreed to a merger with Sprint (S.N) to create a more formidable rival to U.S. telecom giants Verizon (VZ.N) and AT&T (T.N) – said the multiyear supply deal with Nokia will deliver the first nationwide 5G services.
Samsung Electronics America’s years of research into millimeter wave appear to be paying off, as the infrastructure vendor has scored Houston as the second city in which Verizon has selected Samsung as its 5G equipment supplier.
Samsung announced in January that it was supplying Verizon with commercial 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) network solutions in Sacramento, Calif. That leaves Los Angeles as the other market that Verizon has announced, but it didn’t disclose which vendor it’s using there.
For Verizon’s commercial rollout in Houston, Samsung will supply 5G end-to-end solutions, including 5G radio and 5G routers (both indoor and outdoor CPEs). In most cases, the indoor router will be sufficient, but it depends on the physical surroundings and structures, so the outdoor router is available as an option.
In a conference call this week, Verizon discussed their growth as well as their plans for the future, particular centered around 5G. CEO Lowell McAdam confirmed Verizon’s emphasis on 5G and said that the company will be a market leader in 5G: “”We don’t play to play. We play to win. Network leadership is at the core.”
AT&T has promised to bring 5G to 12 cities in the US this year, and the latest three markets due to receive 5G were announced today: Charlotte, Raleigh and Oklahoma City. Earlier this year they announced that service would be brought to Dallas, Atlanta and Waco; additional cities are expected to be announced as the year progresses.
“5G will be more than just a better network,” AT&T technology and operations president Melissa Arnoldi said. “We believe 5G will ultimately create a world of new economic opportunity, greater mobility, and smarter connectivity for individuals, businesses and society as a whole.”
C Spire, a regional carrier operating in Mississippi, has begun offering what they’re marketing as a 5G fixed wireless service that can provide speeds of 120mbps. While they’re using the 5G term, though, C Spire’s service doesn’t utilize the true 3GPP 5G standards. C Spire is using an 802.11 variant and operating on sub-6 Ghz and 60 GHz spectrum to provide the service, and users need to install a “dinner plate” sized antenna to receive it.
“It’s a big deal for consumers and businesses in Mississippi,” said a C Spire spokesman. “We’re really serious about massive deployment of broadband in our footprint.” The spokesman also indicated that they will continue to study the 3GPP standards for 5G and may move in that direction as they continue research and development.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has announced two spectrum auctions, planned to begin in November, that will contribute to the development of 5G. According to Pai’s blog, the FCC will vote in its August 2 meeting to conduct a November 2018 auction of spectrum in the 28 GHz band, to be followed soon after by an auction for the 24 GHz bands. These high frequency bands are critical for 5G, thanks to their capacity to deliver data and traffic more quickly and efficiently than lower frequencies.
“5G has the potential to have an enormously positive impact on American consumers,” Pai said in a statement to USA TODAY. “High-speed, high-capacity wireless connectivity will unleash new innovations to improve our quality of life. It’s the building block to a world where everything that can be connected will be connected – where driverless cars talk to smart transportation networks and where wireless sensors can monitor your health and transmit data to your doctor. That’s a snapshot of what the 5G world will look like.”
Derek Peterson, CTO of Los Angeles-based mobile internet and WiFi company Boing Wireless, did an interview with RCR Wireless in which he discussed 5G and how it will converge with WiFi. As he explained, “To meet the demand of a new connected generation—and accommodate applications like IoT, autonomous cars, AR/VR and artificial intelligence—we’ll need all available spectrum and technologies. It’s not a case of 5G or Wi-Fi, it will be a case of 5G and Wi-Fi. ”
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.
