US mobile giant AT&T Mobility has named Ericsson, Nokia, and Samsung as the suppliers of its in-deployment 5G network. The announcement follows what AT&T has called ‘the world’s first wireless 5G data transfer over millimetre wave (mmWave) using standards-based, production equipment with a mobile form factor device.’ The mmWave trial took place over the weekend of 8-9 September, in Waco, Texas. AT&T’s first wave of planned 5G markets are scheduled for a late 2018 launch and have been named as Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Indianapolis, Oklahoma City, Raleigh and Waco. Houston, Jacksonville, Louisville, New Orleans and San Antonio have now been added to AT&T’s 2018 deployment list, while 2019 will see mobile 5G launches in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Nashville, Orlando, San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose.
In other 5G news, Sprint and Nokia intend to stage a live demonstration of a 5G New Radio (NR) connection over a dual mode-capable Massive MIMO radio at the Mobile World Congress Americas event this month. The companies will use Sprint’s existing 2.5GHz spectrum, Nokia’s commercial AirScale Base Station and Massive MIMO Active Antenna and a VIAVI TM500 5G test device emulator. Sprint expects to deploy mobile 5G in the first half of 2019.
Finally, T-Mobile US says it continues to lay the groundwork for its own 5G networks with its 600MHz ‘Extended Range LTE’ deployment, which now covers 1,254 cities and towns in 36 states, including Puerto Rico. T-Mobile describes the equipment being used as ‘5G-ready’ and expects to deliver nationwide 5G coverage by 2020. The cellco paid USD7.99 billion for a total of 1,525 regional 600MHz licences in 2017.