One of the biggest holdups to cord cutting is the limited number of Internet service providers (ISPs) in every market. The fact is most Americans only have two ISPs to pick from and, if they are lucky, they have three options to pick from.
Yet that could all change with the release of 5G. 5G is the next generation wireless Internet standard, a standard that should offer Internet speeds from 100 Mbps to 1Gbps and theoretically go as fast as 10Gbps.
Now we learn that Charter is not waiting for others to roll out 5G. This week in Flordia Charter is busy conducting new trials of 5G wireless technology. A pair of filings submitted to the FCC by Charter subsidiary CCO Fiberlink indicate that Charter is conducting fixed wireless experiments in the 28 GHz band alongside Straight Path Communications, which holds a number of spectrum licenses in the band in the Orlando area.
“The proposed operations will advance Charter’s understanding of 5G technology and network potential in the millimeter wave bands and will advance the deployment of 5G fixed and mobile services,” Charter said in the filing.
“We intend to use these field trials as learning opportunities to provide us with better insight into the capabilities of our wireline network when attaching radios with high frequency licensed and unlicensed spectrum,” said Rutledge last year, adding that “we believe that our MVNO with Verizon is well suited for the short- and medium-term wireless goals we have. Over the long term, our goals in wireless and mobility, our wireless business plan will broaden, so our approach is flexible.”
Not only is this seen as super-fast Internet for your phone but also as a way to bring Internet into your house. No longer will new ISPs be forced to run new cables to every house—a process that could take years—they could setup a whole town in just a few months. Someday you could get a base that connects like your cellphone does to 5GB and from there you can connect your devices by Ethernet or standard Wi-Fi.
5G is already real in some markets if only in the testing phase. Verizon is rolling out 5G to 11 cities in 2017. Ann Arbor, Atlanta, Bernardsville (NJ), Brockton (MA), Dallas, Denver, Houston, Miami, Sacramento, Seattle, and Washington, DC should all receive 5G from Verizon this year.
AT&T is currently testing 5G in Austin, Texas, and Google and even Dish are working on their own versions of 5G.
Now we are still looking at a 2020 goal for a national roll out. The Dish CEO recently talked about its March 2020 target to have 70% of the US covered with 5G in Dish’s quarterly earnings call.
5G, like all new technology, may have its hiccups, but this could be the game changer many cord cutters have hoped for. For now 5G should be something all cord cutters are keeping our eyes on.
Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter for more news, tips, and reviews.
Need cord cutting tech support? Join our new Cord Cutting Tech Support Facebook Group for help.