Sprint has teamed up with Nokia and Qualcomm Technologies to complete what it claims is ‘the world’s first over-the-air 5G data transmission using 2.5GHz [spectrum] and Massive MIMO [technology].’ The field test, which was conducted on Sprint’s commercial network in San Diego, used global 5G standards on a commercial 3GPP 5G New Radio (NR) network. The test utilised Nokia’s dual-mode AirScale Massive MIMO radio, and a mobile smartphone form-factor test device powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon X50 5G modem.
As previously reported by TeleGeography’s CommsUpdate, Sprint has named Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC as its initial wave of 5G markets, as it seeks to launch commercial 5G services in the first half of 2019. Subsequent target markets will include New York City; Arizona’s largest city, Phoenix; and Sprint’s hometown of Kansas City. The cellco aims to introduce the ‘first mobile 5G smartphone in the US’ in 1H19, alongside LG Electronics USA.