5G in the USA: Spring Fever

Spring has sprung in the US, as mobile 5G starts to arrive in select markets throughout the country.

Verizon announced in the middle of March that its first mobile 5G cities -- Chicago and Minneapolis -- will launch on April 11. This is part of a planned 30-city mobile rollout by the carrier this year. (See Verizon Says Its Mobile 5G Service Is Really Unlimited.)

Meanwhile, AT&T plans to make its mobile 5G service more available to the general public this spring. It plans to sell its 5G mobile hotspot, the Netgear Nighthawk 5G, to the general public for $499.

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 latest 5G developments:

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T)
What: Mobile 5G using the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) 5G New Radio (NR) standard with fixed wireless 5G expected in 2020
Where: Parts of Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Louisville, Oklahoma City, New Orleans, Raleigh, San Antonio and Waco (2018)
Parts of Chicago, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, Nashville, Orlando, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose (2019)
When: Mobile 5G is being rolled out now
Frequencies: 2018 (& beyond): 39GHz; post-2020: Sub-6GHz
Suppliers (known so far): Ericsson, Netgear, Nokia, Samsung
Devices: Netgear Nighthawk 5G
Anticipated download speeds: Theoretical peaks pegged at 1.2 Gbit/s, while actual speeds will be lower, according to AT&T
Capex plan for 2019: $23 billion

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, DC
When: Initial launches will start in May and into 2019
Frequencies: 2.5GHz
Suppliers (known so far): Ericsson, HTC, LG Electronics, Nokia, Samsung, Qualcomm
Devices: Smartphones and a 5G hotspot
Anticipated download speeds: 250-300 Mbit/s (mobile)
Capex plan for 2018: $5-$6 billion, 2019 expectations slated for FY Q4

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