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AT&T in Advanced Discussions with Vendors to Build Commercial-grade Project AirGig Equipment

AT&T in Advanced Discussions with Vendors to Build Commercial-grade Project AirGig Equipment Image Credit: AT&T

AT&T said it is in advanced discussions with technology suppliers to start testing and building commercial-grade Project AirGig equipment. 

Unveiled two years ago, AT&T hopes AirGig fixed wireless broadband could one day deliver internet speeds well over 1 Gbps via a millimeter wave (mmWave) signal guided by power lines. To support the project, AT&T Labs invented items like low-cost plastic antennas, a radio distributed antenna system (RDAS), mmWave surface wave launchers and inductive power devices. 

Last year, AT&T launched a trial of Project AirGig technology in Georgia with Georgia Power to provide a fixed wireless application to a number of participating homes. It used a combination of mmWave and LTE spectrum. The Operator said it used plastic antenna prototypes installed along the utility poles and observed no degradation of the mmWave signals during rain and other weather events. It provided a system which delivered hundreds of megabits per second to a number of residential locations in a rural part of the state. Trial participants used easy “self-install” receiver equipment, which allowed them to access high speed internet within 10 minutes, added AT&T.

AT&T is confident that these speeds could eventually reach the gigabit range in commercial deployments.

Andre Fuetsch, President and CTO, AT&T
We’ve applied for more than 500 patents for AirGig and conducted field trials both in and outside the United States. And today, we’re confident that we’re on the cusp of a technology that could potentially help to solve the digital divide in this country.

Paul Bowers, CEO, Georgia Power
The potential ability to also use this technology to supplement our own energy operations and controls, such as with remote weather monitoring systems, is exciting. We can see something like AirGig delivering tremendous benefits in helping to solve for the digital divide in Georgia.

Author

Ray is a news editor at The Fast Mode, bringing with him more than 10 years of experience in the wireless industry.

For tips and feedback, email Ray at ray.sharma(at)thefastmode.com, or reach him on LinkedIn @raysharma10, Facebook @1RaySharma

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