AT&T Expanding 5G Network Tests Into Three More U.S. Cities by End of 2017

[MacRumors]

In early 2016, AT&T began its first test of a fixed wireless 5G cellular network within Austin, Texas and expanded that test to new local businesses this past June, including a car wash, an apartment unit, and a church. Today, the carrier announced that its test of next-generation 5G cellular connectivity will be expanding to new businesses and residential customers in three new U.S. cities by the end of 2017: Waco, Texas; Kalamazoo, Michigan; and South Bend, Indiana.

AT&T noted back in 2016 that the 5G trials introduced download speeds in gigabits per second, improving upon the normal megabits per second that customers on current wireless networks see, allowing 5G customers to "download a TV show in less than 3 seconds." In today's press release, AT&T said that it has seen speeds up to 1 gigabit per second in Austin, and latency rates "well under 10 milliseconds." In 2016, the carrier predicted 5G latency at somewhere between 1 to 5 milliseconds.

In the Austin apartment unit, AT&T set up a fixed wireless 5G home with various apps running simultaneously on the same connection, with usage centering on streaming DIRECTV NOW, 360-degree video, and international video calls without lag. While the test remained at fixed locations in Austin for over a year, AT&T said that its findings demonstrated "how people can live, work, and play in a connected home of the future."

AT&T said that its findings in Austin will help during the expansion to the three new cities, with new insights gained into millimeter wave performance and propagation, and how obstructive objects (foliage, buildings, etc), the weather, and device placement can impact the 5G signal in the real world. As with other carriers, AT&T's 5G test data is being contributed to the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), a group of telecommunications organizations that oversee the development and maintenance of major communication networks.

"In Austin, we see all types of weather and substantial foliage," said Marachel Knight, senior vice president, Wireless Network Architecture and Design, AT&T. "Taking our fixed wireless 5G trials out of the lab and into the real world helps us learn important factors about mmWave and 5G. And in doing so, we're learning how to better design our network for the future."

As it expands, the carrier said it will apply the knowledge it gained from the Austin tests, while also increasing the number of participants and expanding the physical footprint of the 5G network trials in each new city, hinting at much larger tests coming to Waco, Kalamazoo, and South Bend. In these three cities, trial participants are said to potentially include universities, hospitals, churches, restaurants, and other small businesses, bringing the ability to stream live TV and experience faster broadband services over the 5G connection.

AT&T will continue to test both fixed and mobile wireless solutions based in the millimeter wave spectrum in these field trials, and in closed "testbed" settings. The goal for the new expansion is to "help speed up" the deployment of new 5G network standards, with AT&T hoping that this deployment will happen as soon as late 2018. AT&T is working with Ericsson, Samsung, Nokia, and Intel during these trials, which also includes a test location in Indianapolis as of July, 2017.

Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon have also announced interest in 5G networks, with Sprint saying its own wide-scale 5G network will launch by 2019, and T-Mobile aiming for nationwide 5G coverage by 2020. Of course, all of this progress hinges on the 3GPP first completing the 5G Release 15 standard. According to AT&T, once Release 15 is out then 5G-supported "commercial equipment" will be available within six months.

Article Link: AT&T Expanding 5G Network Tests Into Three More U.S. Cities by End of 2017

 

[adamjackson]

Northern New Hampshire here, Can I just get any provider to provide LTE / 4G on my drive to and from work so I can finally try this Streaming Music thing I keep hearing about? Streaming half a song and hearing silence for 2 minutes for an hour a day is getting old.

Once you get me out of 1X and 3G, I'll start giving a crap about 5G.

 

[Danbrown521]

Would love to see the true speed of LTE first

 

[jav6454]

And hopefully data caps will go away or be expanded (50 GB minimum) as now we can get much more GB/MHz slice. Network congestion should not be used as an excuse with these new enhancements.

 

[Plutonius]

Northern New Hampshire here, Can I just get any provider to provide LTE / 4G on my drive to and from work so I can finally try this Streaming Music thing I keep hearing about? Streaming half a song and hearing silence for 2 minutes for an hour a day is getting old.

Once you get me out of 1X and 3G, I'll start giving a crap about 5G.

I'm happy that I can now make calls there. Not long ago, Verizon was the only choice if you wanted to make calls.

 

[ILikeAllOS]

including a car wash, an apartment unit, and a church

Wow, could it possibly get any more random?

 

[Sefstah]

Of course they would introduce 5G the very next day after I left ATT for T-Mobile! SMH

 

[swm]

there is no 5G out there.
or better expressed, whatever we may use in 2022 for mobile communication, will be referred to as "5G"

 

[GFLPraxis]

I'm far more interested/impressed with the latency than the speed. Gigabit speeds is awesome, but with data caps and pricing per gigabyte, I don't really need it yet.

But LTE's average latency is around 80ms. Under 5 ms? That's *huge*. That's comparable to cable. That actually enables and/or improves a whole class of real time applications.

For comparison, 16ms is one frame of video at 60 fps. So 80ms is about 5 frames. While that sounds really small, it's just enough latency to make responses feel delayed. It prevents any sort of fast-paced "twitch" gaming (FPS, fighting games) from being really viable over cellular, and makes, for example, video calls feel more delayed.


Once 5G is commonplace, it might enable fast-paced iOS/mobile games to be viable over cellular and significantly improve FaceTime latency.

 

[adamjackson]

I'm happy that I can now make calls there. Not long ago, Verizon was the only choice if you wanted to make calls.

Still need a land-line at home for reliable phone calls. While I have a Verizon Booster, the latency makes cell phone calls at home a bit annoying. I'm always talking over friends that call.

 

[sentiblue]

5G speed means nothing if the providers keep throtlling their customers...
AT&T always scores on top when it comes to trying to screw their customers.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

AT&T said that its findings demonstrated "how people can live, work, and play in a connected home of the future."

I'm not ready to sign on to the whole "connected home" quite yet. I find it just as easy to flip on a light switch or turn on the A/C manually than have to fight an app with all the technical issues that can happen. WIFI router issues? Whole home dead. Internet issues? Whole home dead. I don't live in a 35,000 sqf mansion. I can reach for the remote light dimmer in a second from my couch or easy chair. The thermostat is seconds away from anywhere in the house. I just don't see a need for it.

 

[Creek0512]

How 5G will work on AT&T:

DirecTV NOW will never buffer and not count towards your data cap.

Netflix, Hulu, PS Vue, etc. will buffer and drop resolution regularly while obliterating your data cap.

Your welcome, FCC Chairman Pai

 

[avanpelt]

"5G" on U.S. carriers is probably only going to reliably give us what the maximum theoretical throughputs are for current-generation LTE networks. There's little chance that anyone will be seeing close to gigabit throughput reliably once "5G" becomes the de facto standard.

We've been playing this game for a long time. The phone makers release new hardware that is usually capable of connecting to the cellular network at anywhere between 5 to 10 times faster than the cellular networks can reliably support in their current state with their current loads.

 

[alphaod]

I'm more concerned about latency. Will be seeing single digit latency?

 

[Kabeyun]

I'm thinking that when data rates like this go prime time, companies hat control then will become even more powerful than they already are, and competition will be critical if it's to be affordable.

 

[Ted13]

Of course they would introduce 5G the very next day after I left ATT for T-Mobile! SMH

As someone with a T-Mobile iPhone and AT&T iPad, I really, really wouldn't worry about it. By the time AT&T gets it working where you live, chances are T-Mobile will be just as good if not better

 

[HippyRabbitFish]

Wow, could it possibly get any more random?

Sure, why not? I've seen a single business that was a combination car wash/payday loan/tax preparation business all rolled together in one shop.


Diversification at its best... erm... strangest?

 

[neliason]

If you can actually get that speed it would be great. Then the limiting factor would be more so servers. But this is like USB, SATA or any other speed advertised. It isn't real world. And just this week I was in a house in the middle of a decently sized city and got no AT&T reception. It doesn't matter the speed if you can't connect.

I'm not ready to sign on to the whole "connected home" quite yet. I find it just as easy to flip on a light switch or turn on the A/C manually than have to fight an app with all the technical issues that can happen. WIFI router issues? Whole home dead. Internet issues? Whole home dead. I don't live in a 35,000 sqf mansion. I can reach for the remote light dimmer in a second from my couch or easy chair. The thermostat is seconds away from anywhere in the house. I just don't see a need for it.

I like my thermostat. With no internet my thermostat wouldn't be dead. It would just keep its schedule. It is nice to be able to tweak it remotely. It isn't necessary and isn't life changing. But I do like it. Plus it keeps logs and helps me to see how well my aging system functions.

I personally don't have a great need for a remote light. But I do like the idea of a light I can schedule to come on when I'm out of town to deter criminals.

 

[cmwade77]

The reality is it will end up with a data cap of 10 GB and then you are cut off....not a great setup to trust a cell phone company with your primary internet connection.

 

[convergent]

And hopefully data caps will go away or be expanded (50 GB minimum) as now we can get much more GB/MHz slice. Network congestion should not be used as an excuse with these new enhancements.

I think the data caps will slowly become less of an issue as congestion goes down due to faster speeds. It will take time though. Just remember that a short time ago no one had unlimited data. Competition will force things to expand.

5G speed means nothing if the providers keep throtlling their customers...
AT&T always scores on top when it comes to trying to screw their customers.

I've actually found AT&T to be one of the best in terms of customer service. They are a top tier carrier, so along with Verizon are not going to be the cheapest option.

"5G" on U.S. carriers is probably only going to reliably give us what the maximum theoretical throughputs are for current-generation LTE networks. There's little chance that anyone will be seeing close to gigabit throughput reliably once "5G" becomes the de facto standard.

We've been playing this game for a long time. The phone makers release new hardware that is usually capable of connecting to the cellular network at anywhere between 5 to 10 times faster than the cellular networks can reliably support in their current state with their current loads.

My understanding of how they are doing 5G by using multiple pipes, is that it should be a lot easier to achieve, but will probably not work as well in congested areas. I'm just glad I have a compatible phone - Note 8. Its unfortunate that Apple hasn't included support, even on the high priced X.

 

[kdarling]

Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon have also announced interest in 5G networks, with Sprint saying its own wide-scale 5G network will launch by 2019, and T-Mobile aiming for nationwide 5G coverage by 2020.

Verizon already announced starting deployment this year to several cities, starting with Sacramento.

http://www.verizon.com/about/news-tag/5g-technology

I hope it makes it up to my little town in the mountains. We never got FiOS, so we're stuck with Optimum as the only choice (and they just dropped Starz).