T-Mobile US, working with Ericsson and Qualcomm, achieved speeds of 4.3 Gbps

T-Mobile US is touting its tests of millimeter-wave spectrum in its 5G Standalone production network, saying that it has been able to hit download speeds of 4.3 Gbps.

Those downlink speeds were achieved with aggregation of eight channels of mmWave spectrum, the carrier said. It also tested mmWave spectrum aggregation of four channels in the uplink, and reported that speeds exceeded 420 Mbps.

The tests, conducted in partnership with Ericsson and Qualcomm, were done without anchoring low- or mid-band spectrum, the carrier noted. T-Mobile said that it is testing 5G SA mmWave for densely crowded areas like stadiums and large venues, as well as “potentially” for Fixed Wireless Access broadband services.

T-Mo has long emphasized its “layer cake” strategy to its 5G spectrum deployments, with a coverage layer of its 600 MHz low-band airwaves supplemented with additional capacity and speed through its substantial midband spectrum holdings, and mmWave reserved for limited deployments only in places where it is driven by capacity needs or use case.

“We’ve always said we’ll use millimeter wave where it makes sense, and this test allows us to see how the spectrum can be put to use in different situations like crowded venues or to power things like fixed-wireless access when combined with 5G standalone,” said Ulf Ewaldsson, president of technology at T-Mobile US.