While most agree that the next generation of smartphone connectivity is years off, companies are gearing up for the inevitable transition to 5G technologies in order to take advantage of the massive increase in bandwidth and to accommodate operator needs.
The path to 5G took a major step forward with Samsung Electronics America, Inc. and Verizon announcing that they have completed deployment of 5G systems in five U.S. cities and will begin preparation for customer trials planned to begin in April.
The goal is to gauge user experiences, evaluate the performance of 5G technologies and help the companies to streamline the delivery of mmWave 5G across various environments. The trials will use the 28GHz millimeter wave spectrum and advanced beam-forming antenna technology from the companies that are installed throughout cities’ business and residential neighborhoods.
Samsung and Verizon began pre-commercial testing in December of last year and was demonstrated to achieve multi-gigabit throughput at radio distances of up to 1,500 feet across different environments. The trials will take place in New Jersey, Massachusetts, Texas and Washington D.C. in April with Michigan starting trials later in the second quarter of the year. Samsung and Verizon say the locations represent various terrain, neighborhood layouts and population density.
Samsung will bring its pre-commercial 5G solution, including customer premise equipment (CPE), a window antenna and its 5G radio and core solutions. Verizon is bringing its fixed wireless network service that includes wireless Internet access and voice over IP (VoIP) calling.
