AT&T on Tuesday announced the second trial of its ultra-fast 5G network throughout more locations in Austin.
Last year, the Dallas-based company completed the industry’s first wireless 5G business customer trial in Austin.
The company’s second trial delivers “an ultra-fast internet connection to residential, small business and enterprise customers using Ericsson’s 5G RAN and the Intel 5G Mobile Trial Platform,” according to a news release. “The trial participants can stream premium live TV via DIRECTV NOW and experience faster broadband services—all over a fixed wireless 5G signal. The trial benefits from the resources and capabilities of our 5G testbeds in Austin.”
AT&T expects the trial will deliver speeds up to 1 gigabit per second. It tested the technology earlier this year by delivering DIRECTV NOW using mmWave technology at our Middletown, New Jersey lab. It was the first time DIRECTV NOW had been delivered over a 5G connection.
AT&T plans to roll out its 5G wireless service to more customers later next year.
“The technology behind 5G is important. But it’s also about advancing social trends like mobile video streaming,” Marachel Knight, senior vice president, Wireless Network Architecture and Design, AT&T, said in a news release. “In Austin, we’re testing DIRECTV NOW over ultra-fast Internet speeds at a variety of locations. The network of the future will help redefine what connectivity means to both consumers and businesses. This trial helps show that the new reality is coming fast.”
AT&T has seen tremendous growth in data traffic on its mobile network and video now makes up over half of it. Video traffic on its smartphones grew more than 75 percent last year.
Leave a Reply