T-Mobile US will bring LTE networks and 5G to military communities in support veterans and their families.
T-Mobile US will roll out 5G-ready infrastructure and invest half a billion dollars to expanding its LTE capacity around military bases in 2018. The roll out is part of a larger initiative to support military veterans that the carrier announced yesterday, including hiring more U.S. veterans and their families and offering mobile-plan discounts.
A spokesperson for T-Mobile US said, “We’re enhancing LTE capacity and coverage while simultaneously laying the foundation for future 5G coverage in hundreds of military communities across the country over the next 12 months.” The company did not have a list of bases to share today.
T-Mobile US has an $8 billion spectrum position. At Mobile World Congress in February, the company announced it would launch 5G to 30 cities in the U.S. and make 5G smartphones available, all the while continuing to invest in LTE.
“Every dollar we invest in our network is a 5G dollar. All the LTE Advanced work we do is 5G work,” said Neville Ray, T-Mobile US’s chief technology officer, in a February statement. “Every step we take — every innovation — builds toward a future-proof 5G network.”
The company said early last year it would devote part of its low-band 600 MHz spectrum to 5G nationwide, using its existing nationwide macro network. T-Mobile US also has 200 megahertz of spectrum in the 28/39 GHz bands and mid-band spectrum to deploy 5G, but the millimeter wave spectrum requires “a number of small cells so massive that providing broad coverage would be impossible,” said the company in a statement.
First come the standards: T-Mobile US says it will follow the 3GPP standards to build its 5G network, when the standards become available.
Other companies are bringing 5G to military bases. Boingo Wireless is planning to bring 5G to military bases to support military and their families.
