In this vignette of The 5G Factor, Ron Westfall and Todd R. Weiss provide their perspective on T-Mobile’s introduction of four-carrier aggregation across its nationwide 5G Standalone network.
The discussion spotlighted:
T-Mobile Champions New 5G Carrier Aggregation Capabilities. T-Mobile is championing its new 5G four-carrier aggregation capabilities, which allows it to combine multiple 5G channels, or carriers, to deliver greater speed and performance. T-Mobile is now merging four 5G channels of sub-6 GHz spectrum – two channels of 2.5 GHz Ultra Capacity 5G, one channel of 1900 MHz and one channel of 600 MHz spectrum that is akin to combining four separate highways into a top performance superhighway. We assess the benefits customers can gain from the new capabilities, particularly for 5G Standalone environments, as well as the competitive implications for the U.S. mobile network operator market.
Watch The 5G Factor show here:
Or, you can watch the full episode here, and while you’re there, subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Listen to the full episode here:
If you’ve not yet subscribed to The 5G Factor, hit the ‘subscribe’ button while you’re there and you won’t miss an episode.
Disclosure: The Futurum Group is a research and advisory firm that engages or has engaged in research, analysis, and advisory services with many technology companies, including those mentioned in this article. The author does not hold any equity positions with any company mentioned in this article.
Analysis and opinions expressed herein are specific to the analyst individually and data and other information that might have been provided for validation, not those of The Futurum Group as a whole.
Transcript:
Ron Westfall: T-Mobile is continuing its innovation push and we’re seeing them championing new 5G carrier aggregation capabilities. Now, those are designed to allow T-Mobile to combine multiple 5G channels or carriers to deliver greater speed and performance. Now T-Mobile is merging four 5G channels of sub-6 gigahertz spectrum, two channels of 2.5 gigahertz ultra capacity 5G, one channel of 1900 megahertz, and one channel of 600 megahertz spectrum. And so in essence, what they’re doing is creating a superhighway for their carrier traffic. And that, I think, is going to make a difference in terms of the performance of their overall network, both in terms of the 5G consumer services that are making a lot of headway, but also in their push for more business customers. In fact, T-mobile for business, I think, is going to make a bigger presence felt throughout the entire market because they are being able to use not only the fact that they have a nationwide 5G network and have a solid claim to being first in terms of deploying that, but also being able to leverage these new 5G carrier aggregation capabilities.
And so now we’ll see T-Mobile basically advancing 5G standalone capabilities, and that’s going to be a big difference maker. The new 5G carrier aggregation capabilities are fully aligned with 5G standalone implementations. And as a result, I think we’re going to see peak speeds at top 3.3 gigabits per second, for example. At least T-Mobile is coming out tests that verify these capabilities. And so as a result, stay tuned. T-Mobile is going to make even more waves with some of these new capabilities in addition to the momentum they’ve already demonstrated.
Todd R. Weiss: I’m curious, are their competitors, AT&T, Verizon, and in Verizon, are they able to do this yet? Or will they be trying to catch up to AT&T in the future?
Ron Westfall: Well, I think that’s a great question. And I think you hit the head on … The note on the head with the catch-up aspect. That is T-Mobile, in terms of its positioning, is being able to demonstrate, okay, they’ve been first to market with a 5G standalone network, also having a nationwide 5G network. And this is being reinforced by the fact that, okay, they’re the first ones coming out with these 5G carry aggregation capabilities. This is a competitive edge, from my perspective, that T-Mobile has and will be able to leverage in terms of differentiation against its big two rivals, let alone any other offerings that are out there. Potentially, for example, the dish network when it becomes commercially available on a broad basis. That’s my perspective there.
Todd R. Weiss: What do you think, how much time do they have ahead of Verizon and AT&T in that area? Could that take these guys a year to catch up or longer or less?
Ron Westfall: Well, that’s a good question. Quite simply, we can only speculate. I think Verizon and AT&T certainly have their eye on upscaling their 5G aggregation capabilities, certainly using up to four channels. Now, in terms of when that will be available, that’s up to them to reveal to the market, so all we could do is speculate. I don’t have a specific insight as to when that will occur, but that’s something that we’ll definitely be keeping a close eye on because it’s going to be important for them to be able to match T-Mobile in both the speed tests as well as aggregation capabilities.
Todd R. Weiss: It will also be important to see how consumers and businesses feel about this. Is this something they jump on, T-Mobile service, because of it? Or is it not a big deal to them? It will be interesting to see how this unfolds in the marketplace if it’s a high demand or not.
Ron Westfall: Well, I think … And for consumers, it’s invisible. As long as their network is performing beautifully, they’ll be happy, or at least very effectively. And for businesses, some might have a interest in the technicalities of it, if they’re implementing, for example, a private 5G implementation. But I would say overall, that the main thing is that these capabilities are just going to make the T-Mobile network all the more better performing in terms of the major metrics that we’re looking at. And I think that’s going to be the difference maker for almost all customers.
Todd R. Weiss: I agree. I think that’s a good point.
Other insights from The Futurum Group:
T-Mobile Q2 2023: Breakthrough Growth in Customers and Profitability
Cisco Live 2023: Cisco and AT&T Join Forces to Elevate Mobile Experience for Hybrid Workforces
Author Information
Ron is an experienced, customer-focused research expert and analyst, with over 20 years of experience in the digital and IT transformation markets, working with businesses to drive consistent revenue and sales growth.
He is a recognized authority at tracking the evolution of and identifying the key disruptive trends within the service enablement ecosystem, including a wide range of topics across software and services, infrastructure, 5G communications, Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), analytics, security, cloud computing, revenue management, and regulatory issues.
Prior to his work with The Futurum Group, Ron worked with GlobalData Technology creating syndicated and custom research across a wide variety of technical fields. His work with Current Analysis focused on the broadband and service provider infrastructure markets.
Ron holds a Master of Arts in Public Policy from University of Nevada — Las Vegas and a Bachelor of Arts in political science/government from William and Mary.
