T-Mobile to Begin Testing 5G Later This Year

[cdmagurus.com]

T-Mobile will commence trials of 5G technologies with partners Nokia and Ericsson during the second half of the year, says Nokia. The companies plan to use the 28GHz band for testing, which is one of the bands proposed for 5G usage. Their goal is to "support massive bandwidth capacity and virtual zero latency." The tests will allow T-Mobile to evaluate 5G technologies and help it plan for its future network upgrades. Unlike AT&T and Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile doesn't expect to deliver 5G to its customers until 2020 or later. AT&T and Verizon have said they'll have some 5G service available as soon as 2017 and 2018. The ITU has not yet defined what 5G will be, but the focus is as much on minimizing latency as it is on allowing devices to reach the internet at blistering speeds. Verizon is pushing forward with testing aggressively as it hopes to play a role in defining the 5G standard. T-Mobile is treading into the 5G waters more cautiously. "We're looking forward to working with Nokia to bring 5G capabilities out of the lab and into field trials with LTE technology and spectrum we already have today," said T-Mobile CTO Neville Ray. "Building on investments we've made to deliver America's fastest 4G LTE, this puts us on the path to real 5G use cases once 5G consumer smartphones are available in the 2020+ timeframe."


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