AT&T Says LTE Can Still Offer Speeds Up To 1 Gbps While AT&T is seeing speeds up to 14 Gbps in the labs as it tests 5G (fifth generation) wireless, the company says its LTE network still has a lot of room for improvement as well. Speaking at a telecom conference last week, AT&T CTO Andre Fuetsch said the company's existing LTE network should be able to reach speeds of 1 Gbps before the standard ultimately gets upshadowed by faster 5G tech. That isn't expected to happen on any serious scale until 2020, so LTE has a lot of time left as the predominant wireless connectivity.

“There’s a lot of focus on 5G – but don’t discount LTE," Fuetsch said. “LTE is still here. And LTE will be around for a long time. And LTE has also enormous potential in that, you’ll be capable of supporting 1 gigabit speeds as well." To move past 1 Gbps, that's when 5G will come into play, the standard also providing significantly lower latency. “You’ll see us sharing more about the trial activity we’re doing,” said Fuetsch. “Everything that’s being trialed right now is not standard, it’s all sort of proprietary. But this is an important process to go through because this is how you learn and how it helps define standards.” AT&T announced in February it was collaborating with Ericsson and Intel to test 5G network technology in the operator's Austin, Texas, network labs starting in the second quarter of this year. The carrier also said it would conduct outdoor tests and trials of the technology this summer, with the end goal of providing speeds 100 times faster than existing 4G LTE technology. Few debate that 5G should provide faster, more reliable networks with lower latency when we finally see broad commercial launches sometime around 2020. But the big question remains: just how much will consumers have to pay for the advancement? Few debate that 5G should provide faster, more reliable networks with lower latency when we finally see broad commercial launches sometime around 2020. But the big question remains: just how much will consumers have to pay for the advancement?







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Most recommended from 25 comments

maestro7

join:2004-08-31

Loganville, GA 11 recommendations maestro7 Member Wireless is going 1Gbps but landlines still well under 100Mbps...? The flaming libertarian in me is currently lashing out at me for even suggesting that the federal government should be regulating like this, but if we're going to have an FCC, why not have a rule that states that if you're going to go 1Gbps on your LTE network, then you need to get your landline speeds to at least 50% of that value?



For all the talk I hear from various ISPs about how consumers aren't really asking for gigabit Internet, what's the justification for gigabit LTE?



I know -- see also DOCSIS 3.1. Yet the questions should still be asked. Joe12345678

join:2003-07-22

Des Plaines, IL 7 recommendations Joe12345678 Member 1GB with an 25GB cap 1GB with an 25GB cap = what is the point

batterup

I Can Not Tell A Lie.

Premium Member

join:2003-02-06

Netcong, NJ 6 recommendations batterup Premium Member 5G? All of these "G" speeds are meaningless, they are whatever the carrier says they are. VZ is deploying "5G" in Boston as I type. wkm001

join:2009-12-14 5 recommendations wkm001 Member AT&T Faux G Does this mean AT&T will call their LTE network 5G in a few years just like they called their super high latency HSPA+ 4G? rradina

join:2000-08-08

Chesterfield, MO 920.3 39.3

·Charter

4 recommendations rradina Member LTE Improvements... said by article : ...the company says its LTE network still has a lot of room for improvement as well.



Regarding the context, what type of modem in the device is required to get that kind of speed or is ATT simply talking about some kind of tower aggregate that no single handset can achieve? Although I've taken that out of context, if the shoe fits?Regarding the context, what type of modem in the device is required to get that kind of speed or is ATT simply talking about some kind of tower aggregate that no single handset can achieve?