AT&T has recently announced this week that it has plans of expanding its fixed wireless 5G testing to three additional cities in the United States by the end of 2017. Some may remember that back in May earlier this year, the second biggest wireless carrier in the country had outlined its business and residential 5G trials for this year, including efforts in fixed and wireless versions. Since then, the company has conducted further tests in the city of Austin in Texas, and is now looking to expand the trials to residential customers based in three other cities -- namely Waco in Texas, Kalamazoo in Michigan, and South Bend in Indiana.
5G testing is far from being a walk in the park. As explained by Marachel Knight, the senior vice president of mobile network architecture and design at AT&T, the carrier has learned a lot since conducting fixed wireless 5G trials in real world settings, as opposed to just doing it in laboratory conditions. The tests were done in several cities so far have allowed the company to gain insights on how to efficiently roll out 5G and millimeter wave (mmWave) technologies.
The users who will be participating in the 5G testing will be able to view live TV streaming by way of the major US wireless carrier’s DirecTV Now offering, and also get to enjoy access to faster broadband services over a working 5G web connection. According to AT&T, the tests in Austin, Texas were able to reach connection speeds as fast as 1 gigabit per second (gbps), as well as as latency rates below 10 milliseconds.
AT&T also took the opportunity to explain that by extending the trials to three new cities, it should put itself in a good position to test both fixed and wireless services in millimeter wave spectrum out in the field, and in the process, learn enough to facilitate faster roll outs of new standards based wireless tech as early as the second half of 2018. For the tests in the three new cities, participants may consist of academic institutions, healthcare centers, venues of worship, dining locations, and even other small enterprises. In conducting the trials, AT&T has partnered with Samsung, Nokia, Ericsson, and Intel.
Apart from AT&T, another major US mobile operator, Verizon Wireless, is also busy testing its upcoming 5G offering. Both companies are helping develop standards for new forms of wireless tech. Industry watchers, however, are not exactly 100 percent sold yet on the significance of fixed wireless in the coming 5G era.
