Devising a plan
One of the primary obstacles facing AT&T at the moment is lack of devices or smartphones that can support this technology. No smartphones that are currently in the market supports 5G. However, the company is pinning hopes on mobile giants to have what they need by the end this year.
The first three locations to avail the service will be Dallas, Waco and Atlanta.
AT&T, which had recently teamed up with Ericsson to offer professional services for IoT solutions, said it plans to virtualize 75% of its network by 2020. To meet this timeline, the company will soon be opening a new 5G lab in Austin, Texas.
But rival T-Mobile’s CTO Neville Ray recently attacked AT&T and Verizon, stating that their “5G hype machine shifted into overdrive.” According to him, T-Mobile is still the only wireless company that is committed to deploying a nationwide 5G network, as other two carriers have either failed to live up to their timeline or to roll out details of their plan.
The only risk factor for AT&T apart from the stiff competition from Verizon and T-Mobile is the national 5G network. President Trump’s national security team is mulling a US 5G network as an option to counter China. But if this becomes a reality, it could spell doom to the private players.