Tag: Dynamic Spectrum Sharing

Verizon Will Shut Down 3G Network December 2022

Verizon has announced December 31, 2022 as the new shutdown date for its 3G CDMA network.

Verizon currently uses 850 and 1900 MHz spectrum for its 3G, both of which could help its 5G rollout. Verizon, in particular, has a shortage of available low-band spectrum to use for its nationwide 5G network, since its 700 MHz spectrum is tied up with its 4G network.

The company has had to resort to Dynamic Spectrum Sharing to switch between 4G and 5G, depending on what devices are connected to a tower. The result is that its nationwide 5G is actually slower than its 4G.

Decommissioning its 3G network would free up valuable spectrum that could help improve its nationwide 5G. The company had previously planned on shutting down its 3G network in 2019, before delaying it to the end of 2020, and then delaying it indefinitely.

Verizon has a now announced it will shut down its 3G network December 31, 2022.

We will turn off the last of the 3G CDMA network on December 31, 2022, months after our competitors have shut off their networks completely. The date will not be extended again. We’re communicating this again now in order to provide customers plenty of time to complete their migration.

March 30, 2021
T-Mobile Takes 5G Speed Crown From Verizon

T-Mobile has taken the 5G speed crown from Verizon, according to OpenSignal’s latest report.

T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T are rolling out their 5G networks as fast as possible. Each company, however, has approached the rollout differently, based largely on the spectrum they had available.

T-Mobile was the first to roll out its nationwide network, using its low-band 600 MHz spectrum. The company also rolled out its high-band mmWave in cities and urban areas. Once the company completed its acquisition of Sprint, it started rolling out Sprint’s mid-band spectrum — considered the sweet spot for 5G — to bridge the gap between its nationwide and high-band networks.

AT&T was second with a nationwide network, while also rolling out its own mmWave in more populated areas.

Verizon, on the other hand, focused almost exclusively on its mmWave network in the initial stages. This was because the company did not have enough mid-band spectrum to use. Similarly, the company’s low-band spectrum was tied up with its 4G LTE network. As a result, because mmWave is the fastest variety of 5G, Verizon maintained a healthy lead in 5G speed…at least until now.

According to OpenSignal’s latest report, T-Mobile’s average 5G download speeds were 58.1 Mbps, as opposed to AT&T’s 53.8 and Verizon’s 47.4 Mbps.

Much of the change was due to two factors:

1) T-Mobile’s rollout of mid-band spectrum has significantly raised its average 5G speeds. While low-band may have the best coverage, its speed is only marginally faster than 4G. Mid-band, in contrast, can reach speeds of 1 Gbps.

2) Verizon’s rollout of its own nationwide network has hurt its average speed. This is largely because the company has had to use Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) to share its 700 MHz spectrum between its 4G and nationwide 5G network. DSS essentially repurposes unused slivers of 4G spectrum to serve 5G devices connected to the tower. Unfortunately for Verizon, because DSS is not as good a solution as having dedicated spectrum, many have found the company’s nationwide 5G is actually slower than its 4G.

5G overage also improved for all three carriers. T-Mobile once again leads the pack, with 30.1% availability. AT&T’s 5G was available 18.8% of the time. Verizon saw the biggest jump to 9.5%. While significantly less than its competitors, it’s a huge improvement over the previous 0.4% availability.

T-Mobile is clearly the company to beat in the 5G race, and OpenSignal’s newest report is just the latest evidence of that.

January 25, 2021
Verizon’s Nationwide 5G Slower Than Its 4G LTE

Verizon has touted its nationwide 5G network, but recent tests show most customers are better off with the company’s 4G.

Verizon made headlines when it debuted its nationwide 5G network, coinciding with the iPhone 12 launch. Verizon had previously focused almost entirely on its high-band, mmWave 5G network, which the company calls “Ultra Wideband.” While offering the fastest speeds, mmWave is notoriously short-ranged and provides poor building penetration. As a result, it is only suitable for the most densely populated city environments, where repeaters and base stations can be placed every couple of hundred meters.

Verizon was the last of the three US carriers to roll out a nationwide 5G network, using low-band spectrum to provide the long-range coverage needed. The reason Verizon was late to the nationwide 5G party was because its low-band spectrum is tied up by its 4G LTE network. Unfortunately, because 5G has not yet achieved widespread adoption, Verizon cannot simply repurpose the spectrum for 5G.

To solve this issue, the company is using Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS). In essence, the technology shares the spectrum, switching back and forth between 4G and 5G, depending on what type of device is connected to the tower.

The use of DSS appears to be the problem, however, according PC Magazine’s Sascha Segan:

If you don’t have any dedicated channels, DSS lets you use the odds and ends of your unused 4G channels for 5G. The 4G and 5G phones compete for the same 4G channel. The only difference is that the 5G ones are running the 5G encoding system on that channel. There are non-speed advantages to DSS—or there will be in the future, once carriers go to standalone 5G systems—but right now, you’re just getting slower performance.

In our most recent tests, we found that DSS 5G is seriously holding back both iPhones and Android phones. We compared a OnePlus 8 using DSS 5G with a Samsung Galaxy S20 FE on 4G, and we then ran tests on an iPhone 12 Pro toggling between 5G and 4G at the same locations. In both cases, DSS 5G turned in worse results than 4G LTE.

In fact, the results were so bad that Segan recommends turning off 5G altogether, unless a person lives in an area covered by Verizon’s “Ultra Wideband.”

December 23, 2020
T-Mobile Says It’s ‘the Only Adult in the Room on 5G’

T-Mobile has said it is “the only adult in the room on 5G” as it takes Verizon, and to a lesser extent AT&T, to task over 5G claims.

T-Mobile and Verizon have taken drastically different paths to their 5G rollout. T-Mobile has emphasized a multi-layered approach, initially focused on its low-band, nationwide 5G network, based on the company’s 600 MHz spectrum. Low-band 5G provides broad coverage, comparable to 4G LTE, although its speed is only marginally better.

T-Mobile also started deploying its high-band, mmWave spectrum in cities. mmWave offers speeds measured in gigabits, although it’s hampered by extremely poor range and building penetration. Since its merger with Sprint, T-Mobile has also been deploying Sprint’s 2.6 GHz spectrum for its mid-band 5G network, offering speeds in excess of 1 Gbps. Most experts believe mid-band is the sweet spot for 5G, providing the best combination of speed, range and penetration. Thanks to the merger, T-Mobile has an unrivaled wealth of this spectrum.

In contrast, Verizon initially focused almost exclusively on its mmWave deployment. This was largely because the company lacked the low or mid-band spectrum to roll out a network with broader coverage. As a result, at least initially, Verizon had bragging rights on having the fastest 5G network in the country, although its mmWave network only offers coverage 0.6% of the time.

Coinciding with the iPhone 12 release, Verizon unveiled its nationwide 5G network. The company still does not have the spectrum to roll out a dedicated low-band network, as T-Mobile did, forcing Verizon to rely on Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) to share its spectrum between 4G and 5G. The company still does not have the mid-band spectrum to take advantage of 5G’s sweet spot, although the company is expected to be the biggest bidder at the mid-band FCC auction in December.

According to T-Mobile’s Neville Ray, the company’s comprehensive approach makes it “the only adult in the room on 5G.”

We’ve always considered ourselves to be the adult in the room on 5G. Our goal is to build 5G the right way and do right by our customers. And from what I’ve seen, that isn’t as true for our competitors. From AT&T’s misleading “5G E” that wasn’t even real 5G to Verizon claiming they have “5G Built Right”, it’s time to shed some light on the truth.

Ray also highlighted the toll Verizon’s lack of spectrum and reliance on DSS has taken on the network’s speed.

As of the beginning of October, Verizon still had incredibly fast speeds on mmwave but that changed when they launched their broader 5G footprint. While the speeds of Verizon’s millimeter wave (or “Ultra Wideband” as they market it) look impressive these speeds aren’t useful if they aren’t broadly available to customers. Round a corner or move a few feet putting an obstacle between you and the tower and the millimeter wave speed is gone. How useful is that – yep – not very useful at all!

So Verizon turned to Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) to add some kind of meaningful coverage to its 5G footprint. It allows both 4G and 5G to share the same spectrum and splits the capacity so each technology gets part of it, which can make things slower for everyone. Without adding new spectrum, Verizon’s nationwide 5G is going to perform very similar to LTE. If you don’t believe me, just ask Verizon’s CTO who said their nationwide 5G speeds are “most of the time, on par” with 4G. DSS has its place in 5G, but it should be used in limited scenarios — not to provide an entire nationwide footprint. Our analysis of the Ookla data shows this: Verizon now has the slowest median 5G download speeds in the industry since October 2020.

Ray then pointed out how T-Mobile is doing things differently.

Our 5G strategy couldn’t be more different, and we’ve been clear and transparent about it from the start. In early 2018, I first talked about the spectrum “layer cake” and how 5G requires dedicated spectrum across all three layers to deliver the best 5G experience — low band for broad coverage indoors and outside, mid band for coverage and blazing fast speed and high band for super-fast speeds in defined spaces, like campuses and stadiums. This “layered” approach, using multiple dedicated – not shared – spectrum bands, is the key to unlocking the transformational power of 5G with both coverage AND speed. Customers want fast and reliable speeds on the go, everywhere they go. Not just 0.6% of the time. And right now, T-Mobile is the only one in the US building 5G with both broad coverage and fast speeds.

It’s clear that, at least for the foreseeable future, T-Mobile is the US company to beat in the 5G wars. Its investment in 600 MHz spectrum and its merger with Sprint have given it a competitive advantage that won’t soon be overcome.

November 24, 2020