AT&T: 5G network launches in ‘next few weeks’ for parts of 12 U.S. cities

venturebeat.com

Following Verizon’s October 1 launch of a “fixed 5G” network for customers in parts of four cities, AT&T today said it will be introducing its mobile 5G network “in parts of 12 cities” within the “next few weeks.” That narrows the company’s timeline down to November, just ahead of its self-imposed 2018 deadline for commencing 5G services.

The announcement came during the company’s third-quarter earnings conference call, and caps off two years of 5G trials across several U.S. cities. Reaffirming its commitment to use standards-based 5G — unlike Verizon — AT&T described itself as starting on the path to nationwide mobile 5G service, with the initial 12 cities to be joined by 7 more “by early 2019.”

As previously announced, Southern U.S. cities account for some but not all of AT&T’s earliest 5G deployments: Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Louisville, New Orleans, Oklahoma City, Raleigh, San Antonio, and Waco. In early 2019, AT&T plans to expand service to Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, and San Jose in California, as well as Las Vegas, Nashville, and Orlando.