AT&T is continuing its growth in the 5G home internet space and has a new modem in the works, according to The Mobile Report.
The modem, model number BGW530-900, is made by Sagemcom, the same brand that built T-Mobile’s gateway lineup.
This comes as AT&T has been a bit more reserved in its 5G home internet rollout in comparison to other carriers. The company announced AT&T Internet Air in July, which offers download speeds from 40-140 Mbps and upload speeds of 5-25 Mbps for $55 a month.
The modem — the first from AT&T — appears to be the carrier’s latest push into establishing itself as a 5G home internet competitor.
According to the report, Sagemcom BGW530-900 — likely to be locked to AT&T — will be a tall, rectangular black box with two Ethernet ports, a USB-C port, a power button, and a 12V power input. In addition, the all-in-one device includes dual-band Wi-Fi 6.
While it doesn’t look like a 6 GHz channel will make an appearance, the modem may support 20 MHz and 40 MHz bandwidths on 2.4 GHz, and 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, and 160 MHz on 5GHz. The 160 MHz in particular may boost speeds for users in rural areas.
The Sagemcom BGW530-900 will support AT&T’s LTE bands 2, 5, 12, 14, 17, 30, and 66, and 5G bands 2, 5, 12, 30, 66, and 77.
In addition, The Mobile Report says the modem will likely sport download speeds of 2.4 Gbps and upload speeds of 900 Mbps on 5G standalone, 3.4 Gbps down and 550 Mbps up on 5G non-standalone, and 1.6 Gbps down and 200 Mbps up on LTE.
The news of AT&T’s upcoming modem comes as 5G technology continues to gain popularity.
While 5G was hyped up as a revolutionary new wireless technology, it has mostly meant faster service on your smartphone. But 5G home internet has grown to become one of the new killer apps of this new generation of wireless standards.
Despite its continued disruption of the broadband industry over the last two years, 5G’s market penetration in the U.S. is still low, according to research, but more people are likely to subscribe once the service becomes more widely available.
AT&T wasn’t immediately available for comment.