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Initial rollout of 5G in the US may be slow because those gigabit-class speeds are nowhere to be found, yet. However, one carrier, AT&T, is getting closer to reaching that goal. The wireless carrier declared that it’s the first telecom in the US to reach top 1Gbps on a mobile 5G network. The company achieved the goal in “multiple cities” using Netgear’s 5G hotspot.
In a statement to PCMag, Igal Elbaz, AT&T’s SVP of wireless technology, said the following:
“It was just the evolution of the standards and the capabilities. The software had to evolve across all of the ecosystem.”
Igal Elbaz, AT&T SVP of wireless technology
When AT&T launched its 5G network, it could only use a lone 100MHz carrier for the connection, which limited the speeds and did not provide much improvements over LTE. This new approach utilized four carrier by aggregation, giving it more opportunity for better performance in real world usage. The speeds could see even more improvements as AT&T combines LTE and 5G technology into one connection.
As with any type of 5G wireless technology and being a wireless carrier, availability will be an issue from the beginning. AT&T’s 5G is currently only available in certain areas in a handful of cities. It also doesn’t help that you need an invitation to buy the Netgear hotspot. Majority will likely have to wait until more 5G smartphones and WiFI 6-equipped hotspots come out to take full advantage of 5G technology.
