We’re still not that close to the big US wireless carriers launching full 5G networks, but that hasn’t stopped any of them from working their tails off to get us there and bragging about their tests along the way. Verizon has already shown 1Gbps speeds with the help of Qualcomm and Ericsson technologies, and now, T-Mobile and AT&T want to do the same.
T-Mobile just polished off an advanced LTE lab trial that was able to produce download speeds of 1.175Gbps. They used a combination of tech from Qualcomm (Snapdragon X20 LTE modem) and Nokia (Nokia 4.9G network powered by AirScale Base Station) to hit those speeds, as they allowed for 12 independent streams of LTE data to be used at once, along with 4X4 MIMO and three carrier aggregation. I know that’s a lot of nerd talk, but just know that T-Mobile was able to produce almost 1.2Gbps speeds over their network, though it was in a lab setting. They plan to showcase these speeds again at MWC Americas next week in San Francisco.
For AT&T, they have not yet blasted past the 1Gbps mark, but plan to do so next week on a Galaxy Note 8. That’s a big deal, since we have really only been seeing carriers reach that threshold on test equipment. Should AT&T get there on a Note 8, this all starts feeling a lot more real.
Like T-Mobile, AT&T is working with Qualcomm, but thanks to the Galaxy Note 8, they’ll utilize the phone’s Snapdragon 835 and X16 LTE modem. In other words, we’re talking about the use of a phone and equipment that you and I can buy today. They’ll also use network equipment from Ericsson, carrier aggregation, 4X4 MIMO, and Licensed Assistant Access (LAA) to hopefully reach that 1Gb mark. They too will attempt this at MWC Americas.
Are we ready for 5G and 1Gig speeds? Your Note 8 sure seems to be.