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AT&T To Begin 5G Wireless Field Trials This Year (eweek.com)

AT&T will begin field trials of its 5G wireless technologies later this summer after conducting extensive lab development and testing with several partners in the second quarter of 2016. The company unveiled its 5G roadmap and testing plans in a Feb. 11 announcement as it continues to work on the creation of its next-generation wireless network across the nation.

When completed, 5G wireless systems are expected to deliver speeds 10 to 100 times faster than the average 4G LTE connections of today, according to AT&T. "New experiences like virtual reality, self-driving cars, robotics, smart cities and more are about to test networks like never before," John Donovan, chief strategy officer and group president of AT&T technology and operations, said in a statement. "These technologies will be immersive, pervasive and responsive to customers. 5G will help make them a reality."

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  1. Re:This is how it begins... by quetwo · · Score: 4, Informative

    Oh, it's already been happening. AT&T has been lobbying (successfully in many states like Florida and Michigan) to shutdown their central offices and force users to wireless. They've been divesting in their infrastructure in order to make it so people have no excuse but to switch to the more lucrative wireless service....

    The first COs are scheduled to be shutdown in 2017. You can expect wired connections in large portions of the USA to go dark in 2020.