T-Mobile US has announced plans to roll out 5G mobile networks in 30 cities this year, including New York, Los Angeles, Dallas and Las Vegas. The cellco claims that the network will be ready to support the first wave of 5G smartphones, which will be available from early next year. Dismissing the respective 5G plans of larger rivals Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile CEO John Legere commented: ‘Dumb and Dumber are in a meaningless race to be first. Their so-called 5G isn’t mobile, and it’s not even on a smartphone. It’s a puck?! You gotta be pucking kidding me! While the duopoly focus on bragging rights, we focus on customers.’
In a parallel set of announcements, Nokia and Ericsson have been confirmed as T-Mobile’s 5G vendor partners. Nokia will begin building a ‘5G multi-band network’ during the second quarter of 2018, completing the deployment during 2020. By the end of this year, 5G RAN infrastructure will be deployed using both 600MHz and 28GHz mmWave AirScale solutions in ‘some of the most heavily populated areas of the country, including Dallas’. For its part, Ericsson has been handed the contract for New York, Los Angeles and Las Vegas, and will deploy its 5G New Radio (NR) equipment, utilising the 600MHz, 28GHz and 39GHz spectrum bands.