Wireless carrier T-Mobile appears to have reached an engineering milestone with its 5G SA development, and claims to have hit 4.3 Gbps on its mmWave network.
T-Mobile launched its 5G Standalone (SA) Ultra Capacity coverage back in November 2022, the first US carrier to do so with speeds up to 3 Gbps via three-carrier aggregation. 5G SA support arrived with the launch of iOS 16.4, which brought the feature to the iPhone.
The company offered the following press release regarding the achievement:
T-Mobile announced today it achieved another 5G U.S. first in a test that leveraged 5G standalone millimeter wave (mmWave) on its production network. Working with Ericsson and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., the Un-carrier aggregated eight channels of mmWave spectrum to reach download speeds topping 4.3 Gbps without relying on low-band or mid-band spectrum to anchor the connection. T-Mobile also aggregated four channels of mmWave spectrum on the uplink, reaching speeds above 420 Mbps.
T-Mobile also used the following comment to highlight the weakness of mmWave and to state that using it for 5G SA will be best suited for crowded spaces like stadiums or fixed wireless (5G home internet):
5G mmWave can deliver incredibly fast speeds because it offers massive capacity. But the signal doesn’t travel very well through obstacles, making it less ideal for mobile phone users who aren’t sitting still. That’s why T-Mobile has implemented a multi-band spectrum strategy using low-band to blanket the country and mid-band and high-band (Ultra Capacity) to deliver insanely fast speeds to nearly everyone. Now the Un-carrier is testing 5G mmWave on 5G SA for crowded areas like stadiums and, potentially, for fixed wireless service.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.
Via 9to5Mac and t-mobile.com