Nokia and AT&T said they have teamed up to test 5G fixed-wireless streaming of the DirecTV Now OTT TV service over a 39 GHz system using the vendor’s commercially-available AirScale radio access platform.
The trial was conducted at the AT&T Labs facility in Middletown, N.J.
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They said the test demonstrates how OTT services can be delivered with new technologies that operate at high frequencies, noting that the 39 GHz and the 28 GHz bands are “particularly attractive” given the large swaths of bandwidth available there.
39 GHz, they added, is a “strong candidate” for 5G, an emerging standard that promises low latency alongside gigabit-class data throughputs. Nokia said it began testing millimeter wave technology with AT&T in 2016.
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"With this trial, we're doing something that no other operator has done - regionally or globally,” Tom Keathley, SVP of wireless network architecture and design at AT&T, said in a statement. “We expect 39 GHz to be an important 5G band in the United States, and we look forward to continuing our collaboration with Nokia to further advance 5G technology in this band. “
