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Tag: Light Reading

  • T-Mobile’s Magenta MAX 5G Users Are Using Less WiFi

    T-Mobile’s Magenta MAX 5G Users Are Using Less WiFi

    Users of T-Mobile’s high-end Magenta MAX plans are using less WiFi, in favor of 5G.

    5G has long been touted as a revolutionary upgrade to cellular networks, one that would provide the speed and bandwidth to replace traditional internet. T-Mobile’s customers seem to be supporting that theory, so much so that Light Reading’s Mike Dano declared that “5G is winning the war against Wi-Fi.”

    Much of the reason for T-Mobile’s MAX customers choosing 5G over WiFi is because that plan provides truly unlimited data, with no speed throttling after a set amount of data has been used. Combined with T-Mobile’s rollout of its mid-band spectrum, considered the sweet spot for 5G, the company clearly has a winning combination. According to the company, that has led to users not only using WiFi less, but also providing hotspot access to others.

    Today, 13% fewer MAX users are connecting to WiFi, 80% more are hosting a WiFi hotspot and their hotspot usage is up 20% on average during the weekends. These hotspots are cooking, with MAX users consuming 3X more hotspot data per month compared to other T-Mobile customers.

    T-Mobile’s data is an interesting chapter in the 5G rollout, and shows the wireless technology is finally starting to live up to the expectation.

  • T-Mobile Shutting Down Sprint’s LTE Network Mid-2022

    T-Mobile Shutting Down Sprint’s LTE Network Mid-2022

    T-Mobile has confirmed it will shut down Sprint’s LTE network, as the magenta carrier continues to absorb Sprint’s customers.

    T-Mobile bought Sprint in 2020, catapulting the carrier into the number two position in the US market. The biggest benefit of the merger was Sprint’s treasure-trove of spectrum. T-Mobile wasted no time in shutting down Sprint’s legacy 5G network and deploying Sprint’s spectrum to improve its own network.

    According to Light Reading, T-Mobile has now confirmed it will shut down Sprint’s 4G LTE network, effective June 30, 2022.

    The news is not really a dire revelation, however, as T-Mobile revealed in its quarterly results that its network is already carrying 80% of Sprint customer traffic. In addition, over a third of Sprint customers have already transitioned to T-Mobile.

    Freeing up Sprint’s LTE spectrum will be another big step in T-Mobile’s ongoing efforts to take on Verizon.

  • Verizon Changes Direction on 3G Shutdown

    Verizon Changes Direction on 3G Shutdown

    Verizon has announced it is delaying the shutdown of its 3G network indefinitely.

    Verizon had previously committed to shutting down its network at the end of 2020, after postponing it from the original date at the end of 2019. According to Light Reading, the company has now delayed its plans indefinitely.

    While the company did not give a reason for the decision, the most likely reason is because of the number of subscribers it still has on the aging technology.

    Verizon’s competitors are also planning on shutting down their 3G networks, with AT&T slated to do so in early 2022. T-Mobile, meanwhile, has only said its shutdown would occur over the next several years, but has not divulged a timeline.

    Wireless carriers have quite a bit of incentive to repurpose the spectrum being used for their 3G networks. Verizon, in particular, uses 850 and 1900 MHz spectrum for its 3G network. The company has struggled with its nationwide 5G network, which uses low-band spectrum to provide widespread coverage. Because Verizon’s 700 MHz spectrum is tied up with its 4G LTE network, it has had to rely on Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) to use that spectrum for both 4G and 5G traffic. Freeing up spectrum would give Verizon more options, especially with its low-band 850 MHz.

    Nonetheless, it looks like Verizon’s 3G customers have earned a reprieve for the time being.

  • Huawei Leaning Heavily Into Cloud And AI

    Huawei Leaning Heavily Into Cloud And AI

    Light Reading is reporting that Huawei is renewing its focus on the cloud and artificial intelligence, establishing it as a fourth business group, alongside the consumer, enterprise and operator business groups.

    According to Light Reading’s Robert Clark, details are sparse but “it seems the new unit will be primarily a product and technology division, developing the underlying public and private cloud platforms, big data, smart computing and other solutions for the customer-facing units.

    “The focus on these key emerging technologies of cloud and AI is another sign of Huawei diversifying away from its core telecom equipment business. Last year the handset business eclipsed the carrier business to become the biggest source of revenue.”

    Reporting on the same story, Business Insider compares Huawei’s latest ambitions with Google and says the Chinese company may be trying to duplicate Google’s success.

    According to BI, “by focusing its cloud ambitions on the general cloud market as well as in support of its growing smartphone OS, Huawei can follow a strategy similar to Google. Google Cloud has become a major player in the large US cloud market, on course to generate $8 billion in revenue per year as the US’s third-largest cloud purveyor.”

    What BI fails to take into account, however, is the ongoing allegations of Huawei being a conduit for spying by the Chinese government. The U.S. has already banned the company and pressured its allies to do the same. Given the sensitive data businesses store in the cloud, it’s likely Huawei will face an uphill battle convincing companies to trust it as a cloud provider. With a mere 8% of the Chinese cloud market, according to Light Reading, its efforts on the home front may be similarly stymied.

  • Verizon Delays 5G Home Rollout While It Waits For More Powerful Equipment

    Verizon Delays 5G Home Rollout While It Waits For More Powerful Equipment

    One of the biggest promises of 5G is the ability to deliver broadband-class internet to homes, especially those in remote or rural locations. Unfortunately, Verizon customers will have to wait, as the company has once again delayed 5G Home rollout.

    According to Light Reading, Verizon is waiting for more powerful equipment that won’t be available until the second half of 2020. The high-powered customer premises equipment (CPE) has much longer range than current equipment, which will be a significant factor in practical adoption of the technology. In contrast, current devices use smartphone chipsets, which give them far shorter range.

    Ultimately Verizon’s goal is to cover 30 million households, but Verizon’s Ronan Dunne admits it may take five to seven years before that goal is realized. As he told Light Reading, this is partly because of where Verizon is focusing its 5G deployment efforts.

    Unlike T-Mobile or AT&T, Verizon is focusing exclusively on mmWave 5G deployment. This high-frequency 5G has the fastest speed—often measured in gigabits—but has very limited range and building penetration. As a result, cell towers and base stations must be placed within a couple hundred meters of each other to achieve coverage. Due to this limitation, Verizon is focusing primarily on urban areas that are often “low residential.”

    Hopefully the newer, more powerful equipment Verizon is waiting on will help address some of these limitations and enable the carrier to start rolling out 5G Home to a wider market.