Nokia is running 5G tests with Verizon as the operator pushes on with its examination of the fixed wireless characteristics of the next-generation wireless technology and beyond.

Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) is testing at its US headquarters in Irving, Texas, as well as in multiple Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) facilities in Massachusetts, New Jersey and Texas. All of the tests are focused on 28GHz millimeter wave (mmWave) radios, according to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ELS filing.

Millimeter wave is considered one of the building blocks of future 5G networks, which are expected to start arriving in 2018 from Verizon. Millimeter wave is high-band spectrum -- 30GHz to 300GHz -- that can deliver high data rates, expected to start at 1 Gbit/s. Smart antenna arrays and radio beam steering will help boost those data rates beyond 1 Gbit/s and overcome range and propagation issues to deliver 5G. In other words, a user on a 5G network should be able to download a movie in seconds over the air. (See Big Questions Remain on Fixed Millimeter Wave for 5G.)

Nokia has already tested Verizon's home-brewed 5GTF (Verizon 5G Technology Forum) draft specification for the next-gen wireless technology. The new tests will run the 28GHz radios at a range of up to 2km (1.24 miles). (See Nokia Tests Verizon 5G .)

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Verizon is testing 5G in 11 cities in the US with Ericsson AB (Nasdaq: ERIC), Samsung Corp. and others. (See Verizon to Start Fixed 5G Customer Trials in April and Ericsson Plots Customer Tests of Verizon's 5G.)

The majority of testing is around fixed wireless, providing at least 1 Gbit/s wirelessly to the home. The carrier, however, has been doing some mobile tests, at recent events such as the Indy 5000. (See Ericsson & Verizon Take 5G to the Races.)

— Dan Jones, Mobile Editor, Light Reading