5G in the USA: Fall Edition

The 5G race between AT&T and Verizon heats up as we hit the last quarter of the year.

Dan Jones, Mobile Editor

October 26, 2018

4 Min Read
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Autumn leaves, chunky knit sweaters, an abundance of pumpkin spice -- and now -- the gentle hum of high-band wave radio equipment in the air. That's right, it's finally fall in the USA, and 5G is here (well, sorta!).

So let's run down the latest on 5G deployments. This week, AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) has said that will launch its first mobile market -- or markets -- "within weeks," while Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) has stepped away from a promise to launch standards-based mobile 5G "early" in 2019, instead offering a more vague "sometime" in 2019. Big Red, however, isn't backing down on home-grown (read: a spec, not a standard) "5G Home" fixed wireless deployments, adding a fifth market -- Panama City, Fla. -- on Wednesday. (See Verizon CFO Expects Mobile 5G Service 'Sometime' in 2019, AT&T Promises Initial Mobile 5G Launch in 'Weeks' and Verizon Names Panama City as Its Fifth 5G Market.)

Naturally, both of the big two mobile operators say they will be the "first" with mobile 5G.

What are the key technologies and processes that will underpin successful, full 5G deployments? Check out our 5G Big Picture Prime Reading report to find out.

So let's take a look at the newest map and the stats:

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T)
What: Mobile 5G using the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) 5G New Radio (NR) standard
Where: Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Houston, Jacksonville, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Louisville, Oklahoma City, Orlando, New Orleans, Raleigh, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose and Waco
When: November 2018-2019
Frequencies: Millimeter wave
Suppliers (known so far): Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung
Devices: A mobile "puck" 5G "hotspot"
Anticipated download speeds: 1 Gbit/s (fixed, per trials)
Capex plan for 2018:$22 billion (anticipated)

For more:

Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S)
What: Mobile 5G using the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) 5G New Radio (NR) standard
Where: Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles New York City, Phoenix and Washington, D.C.
When: First half of 2019
Frequencies: 2.5GHz
Suppliers (known so far): Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung, Qualcomm
Devices: Smartphones
Anticipated download speeds: 250-300 Mbit/s (mobile)
Capex plan for 2018: $5-$6 billion

For more:

T-Mobile US Inc.
What: Mobile 5G using the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) 5G New Radio (NR) standard
Where: Dallas, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York City and 26 other cities
When: 2019-2020
Frequencies: 600MHz, 28GHz, 39GHz
Suppliers (known so far): Ericsson, Nokia, Qualcomm
Devices: Smartphones
Anticipated download speeds: 100-200 Mbit/s (mobile)
Capex plan for 2018: $4.9-$5.3 billion

For more:

Verizon Wireless
What: Fixed 5G using its home-grown 5GTF spec first, with mobile 5G using the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) 5G New Radio (NR) standard in 2019
Where: Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles and Sacramento
When: October 2018 (Panama City: 2019)
Frequencies: 28GHz
Suppliers (known so far): Ericsson, Samsung, Qualcomm
Devices: 5G customer premises equipment and home routers, smartphones (with mobile 5G)
Anticipated download speeds: 300 Mbit/s to 1 Gbit/s (fixed)
Capex plan for 2018: $16.6-$17 billion

For more:

What does this mean in the real world?
Not much yet for the average mobile consumer, as the real service footprint is still very limited, and 5G devices are non-existent.

— Dan Jones, Mobile Editor, Light Reading

About the Author

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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