T-Mobile has selected Ericsson and Nokia to set up 5G network in the 600MHz and 28GHz mmWave spectrum in the United States.
Engineers at T-Mobile, the third largest wireless operator, will start building the 5G network during the second quarter of 2018, aiming for completion in 2020.
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Neville Ray, chief technology officer of T-Mobile, said: “T-Mobile customers will get 5G in more places than anyone else.”
T-Mobile said both AT&T and Verizon focus on 5G hotspots in urban areas and their 5G may not work on customers’ smartphones. Wireless customers may need a router to access 5G from Verizon and AT&T.
T-Mobile plans to build 5G network in 30 cities this year, and customers in New York, Los Angeles, Dallas and Las Vegas will be first to experience it, when the first 5G smartphones launch early next year.
John Legere, president and CEO at T-Mobile. “While the Duopoly focus on bragging rights, we focus on customers. T-Mobile has massively bigger plans for a truly transformative 5G experience on your smartphone nationwide. We’re playing the long game … the only game that matters.”
Besides deploying 5G-ready equipment today and lighting up 5G in 600 MHz spectrum, T-Mobile plans to begin building out 5G on millimeter wave spectrum this year. , T-Mobile will deploy 25,000 small cells to light up LAA (Licensed Assisted Access), technology, paving the way for 5G.
Ericsson is providing 5G radio access products — for 600 MHz and millimeter-wave (mmWave) in 28 GHz and 39 GHz.
Ericsson is supporting T-Mobile for building 5G in New York, Los Angeles and Las Vegas this year utilizing 5G New Radio (NR) radios and baseband from Ericsson’s 5G Platform.
Nokia will deploy 5G RAN using both 600MHz and 28GHz mmWave AirScale solutions for delivering multi-gigabit speeds and ultra-low latency in populated areas, including Dallas by the end of this year.
Nokia will advance T-Mobile’s existing 4G LTE network, providing radio access network (RAN) support for 4G and 5G subscribers.
Interestingly, both Huawei and ZTE, two China-based telecom equipment suppliers did not get any 5G deal in the U.S. Samsung also did not received the 5G equipment deal from T-Mobile.
Sprint, one of the rivals of T-Mobile, selected Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung for building 5G network in select U.S. markets in the first half of 2019.
Sprint’s engineers will deploy Massive MIMO radios, increasing network capacity for mobile phone users. Sprint’s first 5G-ready Massive MIMO cell sites are capable of delivering up to 10 times the capacity of current LTE systems, significantly increasing data speeds for more customers in high-traffic locations.
Baburajan K