AT&T brings 5G spectrum to GE campus

AT&T announced that it’s the first to deliver both high- and low-band 5G connectivity to the General Electric (GE) research campus in Niskayuna, New York.  

The GE site is a facility where it tests advancements in areas like clean energy, air transportation and precision health, so naturally, it’s ideal for the facility to reflect what’s available in the marketplace.

In this case, it’s using AT&T’s low- and high-band spectrum for its research, which includes testing 5G to improve patient outcomes in healthcare.

“Having access to both forms of AT&T’s 5G connectivity can enhance the ability of GE Research to shape the future of patient care and improving patience outcomes,” AT&T states, noting that the patient care they’re dealing with here transcends home, ambulance or a healthcare facility.

“The power of reliable, robust sub-6 and 5G+ networks will transform healthcare by bringing care more directly to the patient,” said Eric Tucker, senior director of technical products at GE, in a statement. “We’re already seeing how doctors have become more connected to their patients through the power of telemedicine or teleconsulting. Just imagine what will be possible when millions of medical devices and diagnostics tools can be reliably connected to help doctors deliver faster, more effective patient care.”

Today, when someone doesn’t feel well, they’ll typically call the doctor’s office and schedule an appointment. “Depending on schedules, it may take several hours or even days before you get into the doctor’s office. But with the development of wearable sensors and other medical monitoring devices that GE and others are innovating, a future scenario could well be that the doctor calls the patient to tell them something is wrong first. This is possible in a very limited way today. The power of 5G networks could make it pervasive,” Tucker said.

AT&T provided an update yesterday on the progress it’s making on mid-band spectrum, which it’s plugging as “5G+” for “even faster speeds to stream, upload and download content.”  

RELATED: AT&T drums C-band progress, tees up 5G+ branding

A promotional video about the GE initiative highlights the value of millimeter wave (mmWave) frequency and notes that “sub-6” is made up of two parts, which includes low-band and mid-band spectrum. Of course, having access to all these spectrum bands provides for the ultimate in 5G experiences.

Although today's press release mentions access to both sub-6 and mmWave for next-gen healthcare, an AT&T spokesperson clarified that there isn't 3.7 GHz spectrum at the GE facility. The 3.7 GHz is the C-band spectrum that AT&T is preparing to deploy commercially when it's available later this year. 

AT&T, which is hosting its AT&T Business Summit in Dallas this week, is also among those convening in Los Angeles for the Mobile World Congress (MWC) North American trade show. Earlier this week, the operator highlighted progress it’s making on another 5G enterprise front.

AT&T and Ford Motor Company announced that Ford will be using AT&T’s 5G network to help build the new all-electric Ford F-150 Lightning pickup.

Ford’s private 5G network in Dearborn, Michigan, uses AT&T’s Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) technology in the production of the 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning. Ford recently announced that it’s investing an additional $250 million and adding 450 more jobs to boost production of the F-150 Lightning at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn.