The high-band 5G millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum starts at 24 GHz and offers the fastest 5G download speeds. That’s good news. bad news? The properties of mmWave mean that these signals do not travel long distances, so the chances of actually connecting to a 5G mmWave signal are somewhere between slim and zero. LightReading points out how. After spending billions of dollars acquiring high-band spectrum, Verizon criticized low-band 5G as not much different from 4G.
it was T-Mobile has begun building its 5G network around the US low- and mid-band spectrum. Spending his $7.9 billion on low-band 600MHz airwaves and $26 billion on Sprint gave the carrier his early 5G lead in the US. The mid-band 2.5GHz spectrum obtained in the Sprint deal may not offer the blazing fast download speeds available in mmWave, but these signals travel longer distances than the high-band signals. is faster and can travel longer distances than the high band, making the mid band the Goldilocks of 5G.
Verizon finally added C-band coverage to its ultra-wideband service
To illustrate the importance of the low- and mid-band spectrum in other countries, LightReading reported that in 2018, an Italian wireless company won an auction bid for 70% of the low-band (700 MHz) and mid-band (3.7 GHz) radio waves. It points out that it spent billions of dollars worth. These same companies spent him only $178 million on a whopping 1,000MHz available in the 26GHz band. Final, AT&T and Verizon finally got their hands on mid-band spectrum thanks to a 2021 C-band auction.
T-Mobile’s 5G layer cake relies heavily on low- and mid-band spectrum
and when Verizon’s change of its Ultra Wideband service to include the C band could have been seen as a sign that mmWave in the US was dead. But that’s not the case, even if Bruno Jacobfeuerborn, former chief technology officer of Deutsche Telekom (T-Mobile’s parent company) speculates that mmWave coverage across the United States would cost about $300 billion.
Qualcomm wants 5G mmWave to succeed
Chip designer Qualcomm really wants mmWave to succeed. It sells the chips that allow smartphones to connect to these signals, as well as the silicon needed for small-cell hotspots that deliver 5G mmWave signals. His Visak Dhingra, senior director of business development at Qualcomm, said of his 5G experience in low- and mid-band at venues such as stadiums, concert his halls and shopping malls: What mmWave does is provide a cost-effective way to serve those locations in the best possible way. ”
In the US, even the companies that initially championed mmWave for 5G seem to have decided to invest in the mid-band experience, rather than spend the money necessary to expand mmWave coverage. Qualcomm expects mmWave to be used to shore up areas where broadband can’t provide fixed wireless service to some homes. It can also be adopted by companies that need a private network for use in his 5G enterprise. However, consumers want the availability of mid-band 5G, which he says is ten times faster than LTE.
With 40,000 mmWave base stations deployed, Japan’s 20,000 mmWave is not completely dead. In fact, several countries are planning to auction more mmWave spectrum. However, he expects 5G equipment sales to decline this year, and as a result, no wireless companies are expected to open their wallets and buy more of his mmWave equipment.
I haven’t heard that Verizon is willing to sacrifice low- and mid-band spectrum to power 5G mmWave, but Qualcomm continues to do so despite the economic reasons to push 5G higher bands. It is certain that Will things change when 5G takes hold and 6G becomes a daily buzz? All we can say to that is stay tuned.
