Carrier Wrap: Sprint Goes Unlimited; AT&T, Trade Group Boost 5G - Episode 15

The domestic telecom market received a fresh batch of interesting news over the past week, including Sprint rolling out aggressive unlimited rate plans and AT&T throwing its “5G” cards on the table.

RCR Wireless News managing editor Sean Kinney joined editor-in-chief Dan Meyer for a look at these news events as well as the impact those items might have on the mobile telecom space.

The Sprint move was the latest from a carrier still trying to find stable ground in a rapidly crumbling competitive environment. The rate plan, which offers up four lines of “unlimited” services for $150 per month, looks good on paper, with Meyer and Kinney both noting the plan could help at least stabilize Sprint’s operations in the eyes of consumers. Kinney also pointed to Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure’s launch of a nationwide “listening tour” as another move by the carrier to regain the trust of consumers.

AT&T last week laid out its plans to begin work on research, development and ultimate commercialization of next-generation 5G mobile networks in partnership with Ericsson and Intel. The network operator pointed to millimeter wave spectrum, SDN and NFV as key enablers of 5G.

AT&T’s announcement followed one by Verizon Communications last September, when it said it planned to begin field trials of 5G-based technologies beginning this year, with commercial deployments beginning in 2017.

Speaking of 5G technology, Chris Pearson, president of the newly renamed 5G Americas, also joined the show to provide some insight into the former 4G Americas’ name change.

The name change comes as the mobile telecom market begins to take aim at defining the standards for the next evolution in network technology, with 5G Americas stating it will continue to advocate for the “advancement and full capabilities of LTE wireless technologies, which will remain a leading mobile broadband technology for another decade, and the evolution to 5G, throughout the ecosystem’s networks, services, applications and wirelessly connected devices in the Americas.”

Pearson highlighted those efforts, noting LTE would continue to be the basis for 5G-related advances, and that one area of continued focus for the trade group was the continued delivery of spectrum resources by countries in order to feed the growing demand for mobile broadband services.

Thanks for watching this week’s Carrier Wrap. We will be taking a break next week due to the Mobile World Congress 2016 event, but will be back with a new episode of Carrier Wrap on March 2.

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