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U.S. telco names three new locations for trials of fixed wireless 5G services using mmWave spectrum.
AT&T on Wednesday announced that will extend its fixed wireless 5G trials to three new cities by the end of the year, building on the work it has done in Austin, Texas, over the past nine months.
The U.S. operator said it will trial fixed and mobile wireless solutions using millimetre wave (mmWave) spectrum in Waco, Texas; Kalamazoo, Michigan; and South Bend, Indiana.
"Learnings from these new fixed wireless 5G trials will help speed up standards-based deployment as early as late 2018," AT&T said, in a statement.
Trial participants could include universities, hospitals, churches, restaurants and other small businesses, AT&T said. Trials will enable end users to stream live TV and experience high-speed broadband connections over 5G, it added.
The telco said it will apply what it has learnt through its trials in Austin to the new areas. Local businesses in Austin taking part in the trials included a car wash, a church and an apartment building.
AT&T reported speeds of up to 1 Gbps and latency rates of well under 10 milliseconds, it said.
"In Austin, we see all types of weather and substantial foliage," Marachel Knight, SVP of wireless network architecture and design at AT&T.
"Taking our fixed wireless 5G trials out of the lab and into the real world helps us learn important factors about mmWave and 5G," Knight said. "And in doing so, we’re learning how to better design our network for the future."
