AT&T will begin testing 5G wireless connectivity this year.
In partnership with Ericsson and Intel, the carrier will begin work on 5G solutions in the second quarter, with plans for outdoor trials over the summer and tests at fixed locations in Austin, Texas before the end of this year.
"AT&T's 5G field trials will play an important role in ensuring rapid and wide-scale adoption of this next-generation mobile technology," Ericsson Senior Vice President Arun Bansal said in a statement.
With 5G, customers will be able to download a TV show in fewer than three seconds, and avoid that dreaded latency between pressing play and streaming activity, AT&T said.
"New experiences like virtual reality, self-driving cars, robotics, smart cities…are about to test networks like never before," AT&T Chief Strategy Officer John Donovan said. "These technologies will be immersive, pervasive and responsive to customers. 5G will help make them a reality."
Don't expect a widespread rollout any time soon, though. According to AT&T, 5G technology standards aren't expected until 2018. But this year's tests will help in the development of those standards.
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Verizon in September announced upcoming field technology trials with Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, Ericsson, Nokia, Qualcomm, and Samsung. The company has already created 5G network environments, or "sandboxes" in its Waltham, Mass., and San Francisco Innovation Centers.
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