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All the large Usa carriers want to exist the first to sell yous 5G cellular service. AT&T is and then anxious to practice so, information technology's currently pushing a "5G Evolution" in some markets that isn't real 5G, but an enhanced version of 4G. That said, the carrier has announced it does have plans for standards-based 5G equally well. On the heels of the showtime official 5G standard, AT&T says it has plans to launch the faster wireless service by late 2018. These won't be fixed location services, either. Nosotros're talking true mobile 5G service for consumers to utilise on a telephone.

Information technology was just late last month that the 3GPP (the arrangement that oversees cellular standards) released details on 5G NR. That's the first official 5G wireless standard, supporting a raft of new radio technologies. The spec includes support for low-frequency bands in the 600-800MHz range that pass through walls efficiently, midrange frequencies up to 3.5GHz, and high-frequency bands in the 50GHz range for higher bandwidth. AT&T's wireless licenses are well-supported past the standard, so it'south moving full speed alee with deployment.

According to the oh-and so-enthusiastic press release, AT&T promises mobile 5G service for consumers in 12 markets by the cease of this yr. Information technology didn't go into details regarding which markets it plans to roll out, simply they'll probably all be mid-sized cities without besides many coverage challenges. Truthful 5G wireless service will accept much higher data speeds, but latency and network availability should besides exist much improved over 4G LTE.

AT&T

AT&T says it will continue using the 5G Evolution branding for its enhanced 4G network going forward as well. 5G Evolution is not based on 5G standards, only is instead LTE with a few updated network technologies like carrier aggregation for higher bandwidth. Information technology'south a repeat of the 4G transition, where T-Mobile and AT&T both rolled out faster 3G HSPA+ service and simply called it 4G. AT&T has not offered any details on fixed 5G service that could replace home internet, just it has been running a trial of pre-standard 5G home service in a few markets.

Getting carrier support for 5G in place is merely the starting time step. It's unlikely in that location will be many devices with the necessary 5G radios prepare to take advantage of the service in 2018. The first ones will probably exist mobile hotspots and bespoke devices created to AT&T'south specifications. If yous want a 5G iPhone or Samsung Galaxy, yous'll probably be waiting another twelvemonth or so.

Now read: 25 Best Android Tips to Make Your Telephone More than Useful