Samsung and T-Mobile teaming up on ‘new demonstrations and lab tests’ for 5G networks

T-Mobile‘s outspoken CEO is always publicly discussing its network coverage, speeds, and how they are continuously working to improve the network for their customers. Today, Samsung has announced that the two companies will be collaborating on “new demonstrations and lab tests” as to begin working on what will one day be a 5G mobile network…

These tests will be using T-Mobile’s 28 GHz (mmWave) spectrum and a Samsung proof of concept device that will use the company’s “advanced beam forming technology.” After the initial tests, the two companies plan to do more real-world testing to find the full capability of the network. Sometime in early 2017, Samsung plans to add a pre-commercial 28 GHz system to the different tests.

Mark Louison, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Networks Business at Samsung Electronics America had the following to say:

“Applying Samsung’s 5G leadership to assist T-Mobile in developing their next generation network is an exciting opportunity. We are well-positioned to deliver the 5G ecosystem to leading operators like T-Mobile, given our years of experience and development across our semiconductor, device and networks divisions.”

5G networks will theoretically make it possible to stream and transfer much larger files at faster speeds, and the potential applications are wide-reaching. Currently, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has a roadmap to have a standard for 5G by 2020 with it fully in use by carriers shortly after. But time will only tell when this technology will be widely available for consumers.