T-Mobile “5G” LTE could be released in the future. Seeing as how they were slow to join the party with 4G LTE connectivity, it is only natural that they would turn on the afterburners for innovation, just as they did with introducing no contract phone plans. In an Interview with their head of Radio Network and Evolution Strategy, Venture Beat was told that, “I think we’ll probably be able to move faster [to LTE-Advanced] because we have the latest hardware in place… Others may have hardware that’s two years old, so they may have to rip and replace.”
So what does this mean, exactly? Short and simple, the other companies don’t have the bells and whistles capable to run 5G LTE. Apparently, for T-Mobile to have this already locked and loaded like this, they have had this little trick up their sleeve for quite some time. Maybe this explains why they didn’t jump on the 4G LTE bandwagon so quickly. Well played T-Mobile.
So what does 5G LTE-A have to offer? Well, based on the latest tests, it showed simultaneous upload and download speeds of 300mbps. Not too shabby at all considering the fact that the theoretical speeds of 4G LTE max out at 100mbps. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if the speeds reach half of that at best, but that is still very impressive. Now while I take this with a grain of salt, speculation suggests that by the time 5G is out entirely, it will call for maximum speeds of 1gbps like google fiber.
Look on the upside. This means evolution for consumers. In the next year or so, 5G LTE-A will be the new 4G, and 4G will be the new 3G. 2G will cease to exist, and if you still run evDo, our hearts go out to you. So everybody’s speeds go up, but don’t be surprised if your phone bill reflects the sudden “good luck” from your carrier.
I left T-Mobile back in 2009 because of their high prices and low coverage. However, they are aiming to have 100 million people connected to [consistent] LTE coverage by June, and twice  as many by the end of 2013. Considering the fact that I couldn’t get a stable 3G connection going from my living room to my bathroom (and they were 15 feet apart), I am really interested to see if T-Mobile can hold true to 100 million man wide connection with consistency, that’s a tall order coming from the countries 4th largest carrier. If they can do it though, I applaud them. What do you think? Is 5G LTE-Advanced enough to get you on the T-Mobile bandwagon? Or is it not enough? Tell us what you think.
Source: Android Headlines
