U.S mobile carriers are getting ready for the implementation of 5G technology in the coming years and 5G trials and testbeds are part of these efforts.
Verizon Communications is one of the most active operators in terms of 5G development. The telco recently confirmed that it’s currently moving on “commercial-scale pilots” in about 10 different locations across the country.
Verizon EVP and CFO Matt Ellis recently said the operator was moving onto the next phase of its 5G plans having concluded a number of technical trials and lab tests last year. The carrier had previously stated plans to begin commercial trials of next-generation wireless technologies in 2017, which are expected to revolve around a fixed-broadband use case.
Verizon was one of the first domestic operators to announce its 5G network plans, unveiling efforts in late 2015 towards initial trials in 2016.
Also, AT&T recently announced plans to launch its first “5G Evolution markets” in the coming months in Indianapolis and Austin, Texas.
The telco said initial wireless services are expected to support speeds up to 400 megabits per second, with up to 1 gigabit per second expected by year-end as it folds in more support from network densification, carrier aggregation and license assisted access technologies. The test beds are said to include dedicated outdoor and indoor testing locations that will include “flexible infrastructure to allow modifications and updates as 5G standards develop,” and include spectrum support below 6 GHz, and in the 28 GHZ and 39 GHz bands.
The carrier earlier this year announced plans with Ericsson and Qualcomm to conduct interoperability testing and over-the-air trials based on what they expect to be 5G technical specifications and using millimeter wave spectrum bands.
Meanwhile, T-Mobile US is testing 5G technologies through agreements with European vendors Nokia and Ericsson. In September 2016, the carrier said it had completed trials of voice calls between 4G and 5G networks using Ericsson’s 5G radio prototype system and the carrier’s LTE network and devices. Network speed testing also showed that download speeds of more than 12 gigabits per second were possible with latency of less than two milliseconds.
The tests, which were conducted at Ericsson facilities, are said to include demonstrations of two-directional beam steering and support for multiple 4K video streams.
With Nokia, T-Mobile US said it expanded its work with the vendor using prestandards test equipment and spectrum in the 28 GHz band. The trial is said to have produced “industry-leading connection speeds and throughput rates of several gigabits per second and real-time latency of 1.8 milliseconds while streaming four simultaneous 4K videos.”
The carrier also previously announced plans to work with Samsung to demonstrate technology advances using spectrum in the 28 GHz band.
Sprint was perhaps a bit late to the 5G party, but has since moved aggressively in terms of testing. The carrier used the recent Copa América Centenario soccer tournament to trial technology in Santa Clara, California, and Philadelphia with partners Nokia and Ericsson using spectrum in the 73 GHz and 15 GHz bands, respectively.
The carrier noted the testing showed download speeds up to 4 Gbps and low millisecond latency.
Also, last year, regional telco U.S. Cellular and Swedish vendor Ericsson claimed a joint network test achieved speeds of up to nine gigabits per second using technology components expected to be part of the “5G” standard.
The companies said the testing occurred in Madison, Wisconsin, using Ericsson equipment installed on a U.S. Cellular network tower. The test achieved peak speeds of up to 1.5 Gbps at a distance of one mile from the tower and the 9 Gbps speed achieved at a distance of 787 feet.
Technology used in the test included radio resource sharing, beamforming, beam tracking and multiple-input/multiple-output antenna technology, which are all expected to have a part to play in the evolving 5G technology standard.
U.S. Cellular and Nokia also carried out a test of fixed wireless services in outdoor and indoor environments using spectrum in the 28 GHz band. Claimed results included network speeds of up to 5 Gbps and latency of less than two milliseconds.
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