Good to see that Baumgartner can call out the sales hype for what it is. Best I
can tell, sounds like this is a fixed WiFi hotspot, which happens to link to
the upcoming fixed 5G cellular networks, as opposed to 3G or 4G WiFi hotspots
we are already familiar with. Hardly mobile 5G service.
Also good to see that millimeter waves, and especially super wide spectrum, are
given the attention for why 5G is different. Rather than just blabbing "5G" for
no technically defensible reason. (With the usual vague banalities about "lots
of things are covered under 5G.")
Bert
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http://www.multichannel.com/blog/bauminator/verizon-and-mobile-5g-puck-starts-here/417867
The Bauminator
Verizon and Mobile 5G: The ‘Puck’ Starts Here
Will start to deploy small, 5G-facing router-like device in about a dozen
markets later this year
2/01/2018 11:00 AM
Author: Jeff Baumgartner
Verizon Communications is preparing to launch “mobile” 5G service by the end of
2018 in about a dozen markets, but the initial deployment won’t involve direct
integration with laptops, smartphones or tablets.
Rather, Verizon will initially lean on a small router-like device that can
connect other devices to the 5G network.
“Think of this as a puck,” Randall Stephenson, AT&T’s chairman, president and
CEO, explained Wednesday (March 31) on the company’s Q4 earnings call.
He reasoned that AT&T wants to push mobile 5G forward before handsets that
support the next-gen wireless technology become available.
“The thing [that’s] going to cause 5G to go slow, more than anything else –
it’s just avaialbity of handsets,” he said, adding later that AT&T will be
“pushing the vendors” to ramp up their work with 5G-ready handsets.
AT&T hasn’t said much else about how these 5G pucks will work or what they will
cost, but placing them under the “mobile” label seems a bit of a stretch. I
agree with Light Reading’s Dan Jones, who views this more of a “nomadic”
approach, rather than something that contains all the aspects of what one would
expect from a truly integrated mobile offering.
Stephenson also talked up the fixed wireless capabilities of 5G, which has been
Verizon’s initial focus on the technology and its stance that 5G can deliver
gigabit-level performance.
“The use case [for 5G] I get most excited about is the opportunity to have a
nearly nationwide broadband footprint,” Stephenson said, adding that 5G “could
be a fixed-line replacement for both business and residential customers.
“The capacity is there, the performance is there. There’s going to be full
gigabit throughput,” he said.
He also noted that Verizon is also looking forward to deploying millimeter wave
spectrum from its FiberTower acquisition, noting that it will provide an
average of nearly 360 MHz of nationwide spectrum, even with a settlement with
the FCC that will return some spectrum to the agency factored in.
“Millimeter wave is critical for our 5G strategy and we'll be putting this
spectrum to work later this year,” he said, hopeful that it will give AT&T a
quantum leap in both capacity and performance.”
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