Verizon has announced the launch of the commercial 5G network in portions of Sacramento, Houston, Indianapolis, and Los Angeles. Installations of 5G Home began this week for “First on 5G” customers in those cities.
T-Mobile and Ericsson have signed a multi-year, $3.5 billion contract to support T-Mobile’s nationwide 5G network deployment. Under the deal, Ericsson will provide T-Mobile with the latest 5G New Radio (NR) hardware and software compliant with 3GPP standards.
Ericsson and Swisscom have stepped up their 5G game by setting up end-to-end, multivendor 5G Non-Standalone (NSA) data call on 3.5 GHz band in the Swiss city of Burgdorf. Swisscom aims to be the first mobile operator in Switzerland to offer 5G services, pending the definitive outcome of commercial spectrum in the country.
Vodacom has announced the launch of standards-based, commercial 5G service in Lesotho using 3.5GHz spectrum to initially deliver Fixed-Wireless Access broadband services to two enterprise customers in Lesotho.
Australian carrier Telstra has switched on 5G technology across selected areas of the Gold Coast. The operator plans to launch more than 200 5G-capable sites around the country by the end of 2018.
Nokia and T-Mobile have inked a $3.5 billion agreement to accelerate the deployment of a nationwide 5G network. Nokia will provide T-Mobile with its complete end-to-end 5G technology, software, and services portfolio.
AT&T plans to offer 5G services to customers in a dozen cities this year and is adding Charlotte and Raleigh, N.C. and Oklahoma City as the next three identified cities for its 5G plan. These cities join previously announced cities of Dallas, Atlanta, and Waco.
Nokia and dtac are deploying the commercial 4G TDD network in Thailand. Once completed, dtac TURBO users on the 2300 MHz spectrum operated in cooperation with TOT will get superior mobile broadband speeds. The network is being deployed in the Northeast, North and South of Thailand, including major provinces such as Khon Kaen, Chiang Mai, and Phuket.
Finnish operator Elisa has announced the launch of commercial 5G network and has started selling 5G subscriptions. The company has started 5G services in Tampere and Tallinn. The operator is claiming to be the first operator to launch 5G services across the globe.
3GPP has announced the completion of the standalone (SA) Release 15, 5G specifications paving the way for 5G commercialization. Earlier in Dec. 2017, 3GPP has released the 5G NR specifications for non-standalone (NSA) operation.