According to a recent announcement, AT&T expects to be the first American company to introduce mobile 5G service, which the company says will be in a dozen markets by late 2018.
3GPP, the international wireless standards body, completed key elements of 5G new radio (NR) standards last month, and with these specifications now available, hardware, chipset and device manufacturers can start development. This reportedly has allowed AT&T to provide mobile 5G services sooner.
“5G will change the way we live, work and enjoy entertainment,” said Melissa Arnoldi, president, AT&T Technology and Operations. “We're moving quickly to begin deploying mobile 5G this year and start unlocking the future of connectivity for consumers and businesses. With faster speeds and ultra-low latency, 5G will ultimately deliver and enhance experiences like virtual reality, future driverless cars, immersive 4K video and more.”
In addition to plans for offering mobile 5G to consumers this year, AT&T also said it will be running trials on 5G technology with businesses across industries.
As standards continue to develop, 5G will advance and won't just be about faster speeds. It will also mean lower latency, enhanced by a new range of applications using edge computing. Future 5G technologies have been predicted to allow future driverless vehicles to make real-time decisions based on information that goes beyond the individual sensors onboard the vehicle itself. Vehicles are expected to “see around corners,” through other vehicles, and at longer distances.
The company spent much of 2017 laying the foundation for mobile 5G with the launch of 5G Evolution in 23 major metro markets: Atlanta; Austin; Boston; Bridgeport, Connecticut; Buffalo, New York; Chicago; Fresno; Greenville, South Carolina; Hartford, Connecticut; Houston; Indianapolis; Los Angeles; Louisville; Memphis; Nashville; New Orleans; Oklahoma City; Pittsburgh; San Antonio; San Diego; San Francisco; Tulsa, Oklahoma and Sacramento, California.
While it rolls out mobile 5G in 2018, AT&T also plans to continue to enhance its network with 5G Evolution technology in hundreds of additional metro areas.
The company last year also launched pre-standards 5G fixed wireless trials in Austin, Texas; Waco, Texas; Kalamazoo, Michigan and South Bend, Indiana with residential, small business, and education customers.
LTE-M
In other IoT-network news form the company, AT&T also deployed a nationwide low-power wide-area LTE-M network in the U.S. in 2017, in addition to making Mexico's first LTE-M network fully operational, creating the first North American LTE-M footprint.
Ken Briodagh is a writer and editor with more than a decade of experience under his belt. He is in love with technology and if he had his druthers would beta test everything from shoe phones to flying cars.Edited by
Ken Briodagh
