AT&T To Begin 5G Field Testing This Year
AT&T has announced that it will begin testing its 5G network in Austin, Texas before the end of this year. The mobile carrier says that 5G will be 10 to 100 times faster than the current 4G LTE technology. The plan also keeps them on track with their biggest competition, Verizon, which released its own calendar for 5G testing back in September.
AT&T will be collaborating with Ericsson and Intel on the new network, which utilizes millimeter waves of 30GHz and above to deliver the blistering speeds. Lab testing is set to begin this spring, with outdoor testing beginning later in the year. AT&T was quick to criticize Verizon after their announcement last fall, saying that it was premature and noting that 5G standards won’t be set until 2018.
New experiences like virtual reality, self-driving cars, robotics, smart cities and more are about to test networks like never before… 5G will help make them a reality.
New Network Demands
The company also promises speeds “measured in gigabits per second, not megabits.” At one Gbps, you could download a TV show in less than three seconds on a 5G connection. As network demands increase and the Internet of Things continues to advance, the need for these faster networks will grow exponentially.