Ericsson seeks STA to conduct 5G demo at T-Mo's HQ

Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) has filed an application for Special Temporary Authority (STA) to conduct an indoor 5G demo for T-Mobile at its headquarters in Bellevue, Washington.

The application stated that the demo will last only two days, but it's seeking authorization for 60 days because the dates may be shifted at the last moment due to customer business needs. Ericsson is asking to use government spectrum bands in the 15 GHz range because this phase of its 5G research was designed in Sweden to operate in that spectrum – the company said it has no plans to request that this spectrum be repurposed for commercial use.

The two days of tests would start somewhere between Aug. 10 and Oct. 10 and use one Ericsson 5G base station and one piece of Ericsson 5G end user equipment.

The FCC previously granted Ericsson an STA to conduct similar demos for a broader audience at the 2015 CTIA show, at the 2015 Verizon 5G Forum and at the 2016 Consumer Electronic Show (CES), so presumably it will be granted in this case. Most of the technical details of the demo are redacted, but the application said transmissions will be at no more than 2 Watt EIRP.

While this demo is for 15 GHz, T-Mobile CTO Neville Ray said during the company's fourth-quarter conference call in February that the company likely would benefit from having a big swath of higher-band spectrum across many parts of the country that it can use for 5G tests and trials, so it's out in front of others who may need to file for STAs and get licenses for tests. T-Mobile acquired 200 MHz of spectrum in the 28-39 GHz range when it acquired MetroPCS in 2012, which analysts at Wells Fargo Securities speculated could give the carrier a leg up when it comes to 5G trials.

Ericsson isn't the only vendor paying a visit to carriers' doorsteps. In June, Nokia (NYSE:NOK) was granted an STA to demonstrate prototype 5G equipment to one of its customers located in Ridgeland, Mississippi, where C Spire is based. That demo, scheduled for sometime this month, is at 68-76 GHz.

Nokia also recently applied for an STA to demonstrate 5G prototype small cell equipment at its Sunnyvale, California, facility, between Aug. 31 and Sept. 30. That demo is also in the 68-76 GHz range and will use a Nokia base station and one Nokia mobile unit.

For more:
- see the application

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