Number two US operator AT&T offered up a little more detail on its 5G trial plans during this morning’s keynote session at the Brooklyn 5G Summit, as well as its hopes for commercial performance of the next-generation technology.

In February, the company followed rival Verizon by announcing plans to work with Ericsson and Intel on outdoor tests and trials over the summer.

Tom Keathley, SVP – Wireless network architecture & design, said AT&T will extend its current lab testing to an outdoor test in Austin, Texas, this summer.

“We’ll start with 15GHz tests and then move to 28GHz. It will predominantly be fixed wireless,” commented Keathley. “A main aim is to find out how millimetre wave technology works and then we’ll pour back the learnings into the standards work.”

Keathley also noted that the operator is using the 15GHz band – an unusual move – simply because “it’s what we could get and actually start with. The 28GHz equipment wasn’t going to come until later this year and we didn’t want to wait.”

AT&T’s decision to focus on fixed wireless for the tests echoes that of rival Verizon.

Read the full article: mobileworldlive.com