T-Mobile (NASDAQ: TMUS) announced it has transitioned its 2.5 GHz 5G Ultra Capacity service to its 5G standalone (SA) network core. 5G Ultra Capacity delivers high-speed mobile connections over wide areas to over 250 million people nationwide with plans to reach 300 million people in 2023. The company uses Ultra Capacity in both 2.5 GHz and millimeter wave frequencies to support the company’s new fixed wireless access 5G Home Internet service. T-Mobile served 2.1 million high-speed internet customers at the end of 3Q22.
Why is 5G SA important? 5G SA uses purpose-built 5G infrastructure along the network chain from the device to the RAN to the core. This means the latest communications protocols that require 5G from end to end are able to function and create efficiency in how devices operate on the network. 5G SA architecture also allows for new customized service “slices” to be implemented in minutes rather than days or weeks, using a technology called “network orchestration” that automates what would otherwise be typically highly manual processes in previous mobile generations.
With early 5G deployments, MNOs worldwide rolled out 5G using a non-standalone (NSA) core configuration. With NSA, the RAN is built with radios that meet 5G 3GPP standards along with dedicated spectrum, but the 5G core functions are shared with an existing 4G LTE core. This shared arrangement, however, limits the full functionality that 5G offers particularly with massive connectivity and faster download speeds. Moreover, certain applications are not feasible with NSA, particularly those that require ultra-low latency capabilities (real-time responsiveness) or for network slicing that is tailored to specific customer needs, particularly in Enterprise and industrial applications.
In August 2020, T-Mobile was the first mobile network operator in the U.S. and worldwide to launch a commercial nationwide 5G SA network. At the time, SA only handled the company’s 5G Extended Range service that uses 600 MHz spectrum. The initial move to 5G SA was designed to support new 5G devices and to improve low-band cellular applications over wide areas. Today, its 5G Extended Range covers 321 million people nationwide.
Internationally, Telstra in Australia and Rogers Communications in Canada also operate 5G SA networks, Inside Towers reported. Telstra says that 5G SA technology allows it to “carve up” its advanced mobile network into separate, secure slices that can be “finely tuned” to suit the needs of many customers.
T-Mobile’s U.S. competitors are moving steadily to 5G SA. Verizon started migrating its nationwide mobile traffic onto its cloud-native, software-defined 5G SA core in October to be able to scale up network capacity wherever it’s needed for new use cases. AT&T is using 5G SA cores on a regional basis with Microsoft Azure edge networks that enable low-latency services. AT&T has deployed 10 “edge zones” to date and plans to add two more by the year-end, according to Mobile World Live.
“5G is making a meaningful impact today, changing the way people use their smartphones, bringing choice and competition to home broadband, improving disaster response and so much more … but we’re only scratching the surface on what 5G can do,” says Neville Ray, T-Mobile President of Technology. “We’re driving the industry forward with 5G standalone and delivering a level of performance for customers that can’t be achieved otherwise.”
The move to 5G SA for Ultra Capacity service also allows T-Mobile to implement carrier aggregation which combines its “layer cake” of 5G low-, mid- and high-band frequencies to deliver greater speed and capacity. The company says it will begin combining three channels to achieve 100 MHz or more of 5G Ultra Capacity bandwidth before the end of 2022. Tests so far have produced peak speeds topping 3 Gbps. T-Mobile highlights that the Samsung Galaxy S22 will be the first device to leverage this new capability in the coming weeks with additional devices following soon afterwards.
By John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor
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