Planning 28GHz trials in the US in 2H16.

Dan Jones, Mobile Editor

February 24, 2016

1 Min Read
T-Mobile to Test 5G With Nokia, Ericsson

T-Mobile will start 5G tests with Ericsson and Nokia in the US in the second half of this year but don't expect net-gen mobile services from the carrier until compatible handsets arrive in the 2020 timeframe.

Ericsson AB (Nasdaq: ERIC) and Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) are working with T-Mobile US Inc. to set up field and lab trials on pre-5G 28GHz test systems later this year. T-Mobile said last week that it would start initial 5G trials this year. (See T-Mobile Joins 5G Trial Races With Ericsson.)

"We'll be on a direct path to 5G service once 5G consumer smartphones and standards are available in the 2020+ timeframe," T-Mobile CTO Neville Ray said in a statement Tuesday.

The CTO has been consistent in sticking to the 2020-or-beyond timeframe for commercial deployment even as Verizon Wireless started to claim it will launch initial 5G services in the US in 2017. Ray blasted that claim as "total B.S." last week. (See T-Mobile CEO Slams Verizon's 5G Claims.)

Nonetheless, of the big four US mobile carriers, only Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S) has yet to announce its 5G trial plans.

— Dan Jones, Mobile Editor, Light Reading

About the Author(s)

Dan Jones

Mobile Editor

Dan is to hats what Will.I.Am is to ridiculous eyewear. Fedora, trilby, tam-o-shanter -- all have graced the Jones pate during his career as the go-to purveyor of mobile essentials.

But hey, Dan is so much more than 4G maps and state-of-the-art headgear. Before joining the Light Reading team in 2002 he was an award-winning cult hit on Broadway (with four 'Toni' awards, two 'Emma' gongs and a 'Brian' to his name) with his one-man show, "Dan Sings the Show Tunes."

His perfectly crafted blogs, falling under the "Jonestown" banner, have been compared to the works of Chekhov. But only by Dan.

He lives in Brooklyn with cats.

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