Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and Samsung appear to be plowing ahead with plans to conduct 5G tests at 28 GHz, one of the bands that holds a great deal of promise for 5G services.
The carrier plans to soon begin 5G testing at 28 GHz with Samsung in Euless, Texas, a suburb of Dallas, Verizon Executive Director of Corporate Communications Chuck Hamby told FierceWirelessTech.
Samsung Electronics America recently applied for a special temporary authority (STA) to test equipment at 28 GHz in Plano, Texas, also a suburb of Dallas. The application, tweeted by wireless industry consultant Steven Crowley, states that the purpose is to demonstrate 5G systems to various customers, operating at low power and within a limited area. Samsung said it would like to do the tests between April 1 and Oct. 1, but it didn't name any customers in the application.
A Samsung representative wasn't immediately available to comment.
According to an ex parte filing, Samsung executives met Feb. 22 and 23 with FCC officials to discuss the company's support for making spectrum above 24 GHz available for 5G, including the 28 , 39 and 37 GHz bands. Samsung previously said the 28 GHz band could be a bridge internationally to other bands being studied for 5G, such as 25 GHz and 31 GHz.
FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, for one, has said she believes the U.S. will need to go it alone when it comes to the 28 GHz band. It was left off the table at the World Radio Conference in Geneva last year and wasn't included in the 5G spectrum study list, but she believes the U.S. needs to have a framework in place for the 28 GHz band by the end of this year.
The 28 GHz tests in Texas would follow other 5G tests Samsung and Verizon have done. Samsung recently announced that it concluded a series of mobile, fixed wireless and in-building penetration 5G wireless tests at Verizon headquarters in Basking Ridge, N.J., where the tests delivered multi-Gbps speeds, including live streaming of 360-degree virtual reality content using Samsung Gear VR.
Samsung said it delivered 5G wireless speeds over millimeter wave band spectrum in several real-world use cases, including in-building and mobile environments using Verizon's FiOS wired network and Samsung's 5G Hybrid Adaptive Array antenna radio technology.
Verizon has been working with its 5G Technology Forum partners to work aggressively on technical alignment and reports making significant progress on field networks and testing the characteristics of 5G technology in real-world environments.
For more:
- see this STA application
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