AT&T said initial 5G Evolution markets under the Network 3.0 Indigo label to include Austin, Indianapolis; sets 55% SDN control target for year-end.
AT&T continued to fill in its “5G” network plans, noting plans to launch its first “5G Evolution markets” in the coming months in Indianapolis and Austin, Texas. The move is set to run under the AT&T Network 3.0 Indigo banner.
The carrier said initial wireless services are expected to support speeds up to 400 megabits per second, with up to 1 gigabit per second expected by year-end as it folds in more support from network densification, carrier aggregation and license assisted access technologies. The test beds are said to include dedicated outdoor and indoor testing locations that will include “flexible infrastructure to allow modifications and updates as 5G standards develop,” and include spectrum support below 6 GHz, and in the 28 GHZ and 39 GHz bands. AT&T is set to pick up spectrum in the 39 GHz bands through its recently announced purchase of FiberTower.
Austin is also set to house a pair of new 5G test beds designed to support ongoing work, trials using a fixed wireless 5G connection and support for AT&T’s previous announced plans to stream DirecTV Now and enhanced broadband services to residential and small- to mid-sized businesses in the area. Austin is home to the carrier’s previously announced business customer trial using millimeter wave spectrum.
The carrier earlier this year announced plans with Ericsson and Qualcomm to conduct interoperability testing and over-the-air trials based on what they expect to be 5G technical specifications and using millimeter wave spectrum bands. The companies said the tests will tap spectrum in the 28 GHz and 39 GHz bands in an effort to bolster their expectations for the 5G “New Radio” specifications being worked on by the Third Generation Partnership Project as part of the expected Release 15 standard.
Software big part of solution
AT&T said the latest network plans will also include its work in big data, artificial intelligence, machine learning, cybersecurity and software-defined networking.
The SDN plans are part of the carrier’s Domain 2.0 program, which AT&T said would be critical to its ability to meet increasing data demand across its network. The carrier said it has seen an approximate 250,000% increase in data traffic – most of it video-based – since 2007.
AT&T plans to have 55% of its network functionality converted to SDN control by the end of this year, having hit 34% at the end of 2016, and with plans to hit 75% control by 2020. The carrier cited its move this week to migrate its enhanced control, orchestration, management and policy platform into the open source community through The Linux Foundation as an integral part of the process.
“Indigo is unique because it will be data powered and software controlled,” said Andre Fuetsch, president of AT&T Labs and CTO. “Those are powerful tools, but they also require a unique level of collaboration with software developers and other third parties. In particular, we think the open source community has a huge role. Open source ECOMP is part of that. We’re also heavy users and developers of OpenStack, Open Contrail and other open source software tools. We encourage developers and other innovators to get involved. We need their input as much as we need the expertise of the big, traditional vendors.”
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