AT&T building on local gigabit LTE base for 5G
The 5G race is on in Indy with AT&T today announcing it will offer mobile 5G services in the city by the end of the year. This follows Verizon’s announcement it will bring its 5G fixed wireless access residential broadband service to the Indiana city later this year.
AT&T says it will activate mobile 5G in a dozen cities by the end of the year. Indianapolis is the seventh named city joining Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Oklahoma City, Raleigh and Waco. Last year AT&T launched what it calls the “5G Evolution” service in Indy; that’s essentially a gigabit LTE offering comprising 4×4 MIMO, 256 QAM and multi-channel carrier aggregation. AT&T has also deployed Licensed Assisted Access in Indy, which aggregates licensed frequencies with spectrum in the unlicensed 5 GHz band.
For a 5G user, access to a gigabit LTE surround is important for consistent quality of service as the user moves in and out of 5G coverage areas, which are expected to be somewhat limited as its built out.
Bill Soards, president of AT&T Indiana, said the area’s developing tech scene and concentration of businesses made it a “natural choice…We expect 5G will eventually change the customer experience and provide new economic opportunities.”
Earlier this month Verizon named Indianapolis as its fourth 2018 5G launch city along with LA, Sacramento and Houston. The residential broadband service, which also includes YouTube TV and Apple TV 4K
Sacramento, Los Angeles, Houston and Indianapolis—with the Aug. 14 addition of Motor City, those are the four locales where Verizon will launch its 5G fixed wireless residential broadband service by the end of the year. Also this week Verizon announced it would include YouTube TV and Apple TV 4K with its broadband offering. Verizon’s flavor of 5G will initially be based on its proprietary Verizon Technical Forum specification, but will be upgraded to the 3GPP 5G New Radio standard.
“We’re proud that AT&T continues to put Indianapolis at the top of its list when deciding where its latest technologies should be launched,” said Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett. “We were among the first for AT&T’s 5G Evolution network, and now the company is keeping its promise to bring 5G here. We look forward to seeing the impact this revolutionary technology will have on our city: helping us to attract economic investment and make local government more efficient.”
