Located in the heart of the southern United States, Atlanta is one of the most iconic cities in that region of the nation. But it’s about to become known for more than just being the capital for Georgia, oranges, hip-hop, and the Falcons. Over the last fifteen years, this city has become one of the major hubs for telecommunications professionals to work with innovations in the cutting edge of wireless and technological advancements. It’s already one of the only cities in the nation that supports gigabit speed technology from three different large scale providers: AT&T, Comcast, and Google Fiber. And now, the next big step forward in wireless is heading to the Big Peach – 5G.
5G is the next major important development in telecom circles, and multiple carriers have been experimenting with the system in a number of different cities around the country before they roll out the full system – and Atlanta has been one of the chief test sites. This is partially thanks to the location – a number of the largest wireless providers have based significant corporate facilities in this city, including Verizon Wireless, Comcast, Sprint, and KORE Wireless. AT&T Mobility has even based their corporate headquarters within the city limits. This influx of developers has been a boon for the city, which has seen the population of the greater Atlanta Metropolitan area nearly double in the last thirty years.
5G has been exciting members of the industry since plans for developing the technology have been unveiled, and testing in cities such as Atlanta and Austin have been providing promising results. AT&T Mobility is in the process of conducting 5G trials in a number of cities, notably Atlanta. Working with Nokia, the wireless service is excited by their findings. Tom Keathley, senior Vice President of Wireless Network Architecture & Design, said in an interview that, “We’ve seen great results in our 5G lab trials, including reaching speeds above 10 gigabits per second in early tests with Ericsson… Nokia is joining to help us test millimeter wave (mmWave), which we expect to play a key role in 5G development and deployment. The work coming out of AT&T Labs will pave the way toward future international 5G standards and allow us to deliver these fast 5G speeds and network performance across the U.S.”
Taking a cue from their competitors, Verizon Wireless has been testing the business and consumer aspects of the upgrade to 5G since February. The reliability of the service and the ability to handle increasingly large data volumes has been an essential cornerstone of the advancement to 5G, and Atlanta – with its deep connection to the industry and ever increasing population – has been a perfect testing ground before 5G is spread out across the country. In a statement, Verizon Vice President Adam Koeppe noted, “5G technology innovation is rapidly evolving… Network density is increasing to meet the demands of the customers.”
And it’s notable that both companies – and many of their contemporaries – have been choosing this city as the hot bed for testing. With the ties to the telecom community only growing stronger by the day, we can expect more developments to come out of the Peach State.
Sources: Atlanta Tech Hub Trialing 5G Wireless, AT&T Highlights Progress in 5G Lab Trials, New Markets and Vendors, Verizon to Pilot 5G Broadband Technology in Atlanta
