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Verizon will launch 5G home internet access in 2018
Verizon's 5G wireless will soon become a practical reality... if not quite the way you might expect. Big Red has announced that it's launching residential 5G broadband (that is, fixed-in-place wireless) in three to five markets starting in the second half of 2018. Most details aren't nailed down at this point, but the rollout will begin in Sacramento, California.
AT&T's rural wireless internet is now available in 18 states
If you've been waiting for AT&T's rural wireless internet to show up in your state, there's now a good chance you can sign up. The telecom has launched the service in nine more states, or twice as many as it had just a few months ago. And this includes some of the most populous states in the country -- California and Texas are included along with Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin. AT&T says about 160,000 locations are covered (more than double what it could manage in June), and it's reportedly still on track to serve 400,000 locations before 2017 is over.
AT&T is rapidly expanding its rural wireless internet service
AT&T wasn't kidding when it said it would expand its rural wireless internet service in short order. The carrier has launched its fixed-in-place cellular access in eight more southeastern states, providing broadband to over 70,000 locations that would otherwise have poor or non-existent internet coverage. That still doesn't sound like much, but it's much larger than the Georgia-only service AT&T started with in April. It also gets the provider much closer to its goal of serving over 400,000 locations by the end of 2017.
AT&T's rural wireless internet push starts with Georgia
AT&T is making good on an FCC Connect America Fund promise to bring reasonably fast internet to rural dwellers and those who'd otherwise have to settle for pokey service. The carrier has completed its first batch of fixed wireless internet rollouts in Georgia, sending LTE cellular data to the home through a static antenna system. AT&T's version offers speeds of "at least" 10Mbps downstream and 1Mbps upstream. That's not the 25Mbps/3Mbps that the FCC currently defines as broadband, but it's enough to use many modern services -- and unlike satellite internet, it's not prone to high latency or interference from the weather. As you might guess from the cell connection, though, you won't have unlimited access.
Dish and Sprint to trial fixed LTE broadband in Texas
Dish may already be testing wireless broadband in Virginia, but it's not content to stop there. The TV provider has just partnered with Sprint on an upcoming trial of fixed LTE service in Corpus Christi, Texas. Both companies are shy on details, although they expect to use both indoor and outdoor routers when the test run begins in mid-2014. Service will expand to more areas in the future, although Dish and Sprint aren't being more specific; we've reached out for further details. Whatever they do next, the experiment is good news for those who want more (or at least faster) rural broadband in the US.
Sprint discontinuing Broadband Direct
If you're one of the few who signed up for the much-loved, hard-to-get, line-of-sight-only Sprint Broadband Direct service, it looks like the party is over -- Sprint's telling customers it's shutting the service down "as the result of a recent FCC action" on June 30 or July 31, depending on the market. BB Direct was only ever offered in a handful of cities and wasn't heavily promoted recently, but once you mounted the 14-inch diamond-shaped antenna on your roof, you basically got ADSL-class service -- which makes Sprint's offer to switch users to EV-DO with a hike in pricing pretty lame all around. Let's hope that huge Clearwire deal will provide comparable WiMAX services to take the sting off soon.[Thanks, Gerson]
