Intel has joined hands with AT&T and Ericsson to start the first 5G business customer trial at Intel’s Austin, Texas, facility.
Intel and Ericsson are providing 5G infrastructure and connectivity technology for the millimeter wave (mmWave) end-user device and gateway powering this next-generation wireless network experience.
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ABI Research recently forecasts that 5G in the cm and mm wave bands will reach nearly $200 billion in cumulative service revenues by 2026 while LTE, LTE-A, and LTE-A Pro exceed five billion subscriptions.
Growth in LTE subscriber base will soften in developed markets when 5G deployments take off. “In 2026, the LTE portfolio will remain the dominant mobile technology, representing more than 50 percent of mobile subscriptions, the 5G subscriber base will grow to account for close to 5 percent of the market’s total,” said Khin Sandi Lynn, industry analyst at ABI Research.
According to AT&T, the trial is the first of its kind. AT&T has worked with Ericsson to conduct its first public 5G demo featuring streaming 4K HD video and real-time camera feeds — reaching speeds of nearly 14 gigabits per second.
AT&T, Intel and Ericsson are taking this 5G technology out of the lab to explore what benefits it can provide in a real-world business setting.
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5G networks will provide the communications backbone for data-rich services and sophisticated cloud apps, delivered faster and more efficiently than ever.
During the trial, gigabits per second bandwidth will let the three companies jointly test multiple enterprise proof-of-concept use cases. This includes internet access, VPN, unified communications applications and 4K video streams. The trial will showcase the potential of 5G voice-over-IP over the 15GHz and 28GHz spectrum bands.
“Intel is committed to collaborating with industry leaders to develop leading technologies and solutions that expedite network readiness for the successful early roll out of 5G,” said Aicha Evans, corporate vice president and general manager of the Communications and Devices Group of Intel.
Meanwhile, Qualcomm Technologies, one of the rivals of Intel, has introduced its first 5G New Radio (NR) spectrum sharing prototype system and trial platform.
Qualcomm Technologies’ new prototype system will be utilized for technology development in 2017 with field trials together with industry leaders to follow.
Qualcomm Technologies’ prototype system aims to show that 5G spectrum sharing technologies will bring higher levels of mobile broadband performance to shared spectrum to enable fiber-like experiences, as well as extending 5G into new types of deployments, such as dedicated 5G networks for enterprise and industrial IoT.
Baburajan K
editor@telecomlead.com
