AT&T testing superfast 5G mobile network

AT&T’s Chief Strategy Officer and Group President John Donovan said in a statement that AT&T’s 5G tests will build off the company’s software-centric network architecture, which he said is flexible and can give customers more control over their network services. On this line of argument, the mobile operator said that it will start collaborations with major players in the industry such as Intel and Ericsson as far as 5G solutions are concerned. 5G is expected to significantly outpace current network speeds, delivering content 10 to 100 times faster than what customers can get on a 4G network.

“We’re conducting our 5G trials in such a way that we’ll be able to pivot to compliant commercial deployments once 5G technology standards are set”, states the company. AT&T is talking speeds of anywhere from 10 to 100 times faster than average 4G LTE. Then, outdoor tests and trials will take place over the summer, and fixed locations in Austin will likely receive field trials of the new 5G network.

Streaming video already accounts for the bulk of mobile traffic, and by 2020, Cisco reckons it will account for 75 percent mobile data. AT&T, like Verizon, believes that the market needs faster and more reliable networks as the number of devices calling on wireless data increases. AT&T plans to roll out a home Internet service powered by this technology to a limited number of customers by the end of the year, according to a spokesman.

The first is that there is as yet no global agreement on 5G standards.

One of the biggest rivals in the United States for the company, Verizon, has also announced of its plan for testing the technology in 2016. Its expected ubiquity will help connect millions of different devices, from lightbulbs to farming equipment, and allow them to talk with each other, and you. Speed of 1 Gigabit will download you a TV show in less than three seconds.

A report published on AT&T’s move on 5G in USA Today informed, “AT&T reports that data traffic on its wireless network grew more than 150,000% from the dawn of the iPhone age in 2007 through 2015, largely driven by video”. Verizon announced last year that it will test its 5G system this year, starting in test environments in San Francisco and MA.

So how much faster will 5G be? In all likelihood, however, the standard probably will not become available to wide global audiences until the second half of 2019 or early 2020.