T-Mobile US activated standalone architecture (SA) in its 5G network across the United States.
“Since Sprint became part of T-Mobile, we’ve been rapidly combining networks for a supercharged Un-carrier while expanding our nationwide 5G footprint, and today we take a massive step into the future with standalone 5G architecture,” said Neville Ray, President of Technology at T-Mobile. “This is where it gets interesting, opening the door for massive innovation in this country — and while the other guys continue to play catch up, we’ll keep growing the world’s most advanced 5G network.”
In SA areas, T-Mobile engineers have already seen up to a 40% improvement in latency during testing.
In the near-term, SA allows T-Mobile to unleash its entire 600 MHz footprint for 5G. With non-standalone network architecture (NSA), 600 MHz 5G is combined with mid-band LTE to access the core network, but without SA the 5G signal only goes as far as mid-band LTE. With today’s launch, 600 MHz 5G can go beyond the mid-band signal, covering hundreds of square miles from a single tower and going deeper into buildings than before.
By flipping the switch to activate SA, T-Mobile increased its 5G footprint by 30 percent — now covering 1.3 million square miles in more than 7,500 cities and towns across the country.
T-Mobile partnered closely with Cisco and Nokia to build its 5G core, and Ericsson and Nokia for 5G radio infrastructure. OnePlus, Qualcomm Technologies and Samsung have helped T-Mobile ensure existing devices can access SA 5G with a software update, based on compatibility.
