Weekly News: Samsung intros first phones that will support all flavors of 5G

February 12, 2020

1. Samsung intros first phones that will support all flavors of 5G

2. China issues 5G indoor spectrum licences

3. T-Mobile and Sprint win Federal Court approval for merger

4. US Cellular launches LTE-M network on 90% of cell sites to support IoT

5. AT&T expands low-band 5G coverage to 13 additional cities

Samsung intros first phones that will support all flavors of 5G

Samsung’s newest smartphone release, the Galaxy S20, will sport two models – the S20+ and S20 Ultra – that support all flavors of 5G when released early in March.

Samsung held its usual, highly produced Unpacked launch event in San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts Tuesday. The world’s leading smartphone vendor introduced three versions of its new S20 brand, as well as the $1,349 Galaxy Z Flip foldable phone.

“Samsung is making 5G available to more people, more quickly than ever before,” Samsung Mobile’s new CEO, Roh Tae-moon, proclaimed from the stage.

Two of the new S20s will support the far higher gigabit download speeds of millimeter wave – if you can find it! – but can connect to the much more available, but slower, 5G speeds of midband and lowband 5G as well. Naturally, you’ll pay a premium for that multi-flavor pleasure initially; the S20s that offer multiband support start at $1,199.

The $1,199 S20+ and $1,399 S20 Ultra support multiple variants of 5G currently available in the US. This means these phones will support fast 5G downloads over AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon mmWave networks, as well as midband connections from Sprint, and lowband links from T-Mobile and AT&T.

China issues 5G indoor spectrum licences

China issued 5G spectrum licences to China Telecom, China Unicom and China Broadcasting Network (CBN), allowing the three to share the 3.3GHz to 3.4GHz band for indoor coverage, China Daily reported.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology’s (MIIT) move to allow use of public mobile frequencies by more than a single enterprise aims to encourage joint construction and sharing of 5G infrastructure.

In September 2019, China Telecom and China Unicom agreed to team on building and maintaining 5G RANs across the country, to accelerate deployment and slash associated costs.

CBN, a state-owned national cable TV operator, plans to invest CNY250 million ($35.8 million) to deploy 5G service in 16 cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

It was granted a commercial 5G licence in June 2019 together with the country’s three major mobile operators.

China Telecom and China Unicom received 100MHz in the 3.5GHz band, while market leader China Mobile obtained 260MHz in the 2.6GHz and 4.9GHz bands.

The allocation of spectrum in the 3.3GHz to 3.4GHz band aims to reduce China Mobile’s advantage in overall spectrum holdings.

T-Mobile and Sprint win Federal Court approval for merger

T-Mobile US and Sprint have received approval from Federal Court in New York to go ahead with their $26 billion merger to create the New T-Mobile.

Based in Bellevue, Washington, T-Mobile US has 86 million customers. T-Mobile US is owned by Germany’s Deutsche Telekom.

Sprint served 54.2 million connections as of December 31, 2019. Sprint is owned by SoftBank of Japan.

Recent media report said there will be some changes in the evaluation of Sprint in the wake of its recent financial performance.

The ruling clears one of the final hurdles for the deal, which can’t close until the California Public Utilities Commission approves the transaction.

US Cellular launches LTE-M network on 90% of cell sites to support IoT

The LTE-M network is designed to support simple, low-power or battery-limited IoT devices

Amid the rising interest in IoT adoptions for industrial and commercial applications, US Cellular announced that is has launched its LTE-M network, specifically for IoT applications, on 90% of its cell sites, with the other 10% expected to be added sometime during the second quarter of this year.

The LTE-M network is designed to support simple, low-power or battery-limited IoT devices, and, according to US Cellular, is considered a good option for both urban and rural settings, as well as hard-to-reach environments.

AT&T expands low-band 5G coverage to 13 additional cities

The lack of available 5G-enabled devices offered by AT&T remains an issue

AT&T’s ongoing extension of 5G coverage is holding steady, as almost exactly a month after its last wave of deployments, the operator has announced 13 additional cities now covered by its low-band 5G network.

The new cities include: Atlantic City, New Jersey; Bakersfield, Modesto, Oxnard, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo, California; Boston and New Bedford, Massachusetts; Dayton, Ohio; Frederick, Maryland; Liberty, Georgia; St. Louis, Missouri; and Wichita, Kansas.

To date, AT&T now has a 5G market total of 32 cities, as well as 35 cities with very limited, millimeter-wave-based “5G+” coverage.

Unlike AT&T’s 5G network for business clients, which uses millimeter wave frequencies to provide faster speeds, the commercial variety is low-band 5G and uses a portion of the carrier’s 850 MHz spectrum. Low-band 5G will rely on the same airwaves that LTE has used, and while it won’t quite hit the super-fast speeds made possible with large swathes of mmWave spectrum, it will have better penetration and coverage characteristics.

Don’t miss the Telecom & Wireless News, Check here.