By AT&T was the first US carrier to announce plans for testing 5G this year, but that doesn’t mean they will be the first to actually do it. Verizon steals that honor with their announcement today.
Samsung and Verizon have confirmed that they have started 5G testing in real-world conditions. The companies are testing the technology in standard buildings and moving vehicles.
Verizon is looking to be at the forefront of future wireless data, just as they were with LTE. But their goal right now isn’t to say they beat everyone — they actually want everyone to join in and help formulate testing standards to accelerate the passing of technological hurdles.
Along with Verizon, the 5G Technology Forum consists of Ericsson, Intel, Nokia, Samsung Electronics America, Inc., and Qualcomm, which are all big names in cellular telephony.
To be clear, this group isn’t the one working on the eventual 5G standard — that’s what the 3GPP is for — but their efforts will help push efforts to launch 5G by 2018 forward, and it should help speed up deployment efforts for all carriers once the tech finally arrives.
[via Verizon]
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