U.S. Cellular is working with Nokia to test 5G fixed wireless in both indoor and outdoor environments.
Nokia said the 5G testing used 28GHz spectrum through an experimental license from the FCC and Nokia’s commercially-available, 5G-ready AirScale radio platform to stream six simultaneous 4K ultra high-definition videos.
For the outdoor testing, which was conducted at U.S. Cellular’s technology center in Schaumburg, Ill., the team set up a point-to-point, clear line of sight scenario between a base station and user equipment. To test the impact of a real world environment, impairments such as dry wall, windows and metal panels were introduced, and testing was repeated by moving the base station and user equipment behind trees and foliage. The indoor testing was done in U.S. Cellular’s lab. In both environments, the tests delivered speeds of 5Gbps and ultra-low latency under 2 milliseconds (ms) over the 5G wireless link.
Ricky Corker, executive vice president and head of North America for Nokia, said: “Nokia continues to accelerate its efforts to develop and test 5G in North America, and we’re pleased to expand our relationship with U.S. Cellular with this newest 5G collaboration. Our tests show how 5G technology not only will enhance U.S. Cellular’s ongoing efforts to stay ahead of the needs of their data-hungry customers and businesses, but also create opportunities for new services requiring high bandwidth and low latency.”
