EBS In Action

T-Mobile executives are rapidly expanding the home broadband market by offering 5G fixed wireless service to under served areas by using 2.5 GHz spectrum acquired through its purchase of Sprint. T-Mobile’s President of Technology, Neville Ray, said they are in the process of rolling out mid-band 5G on the company’s 2.5 GHz spectrum while also deploying low-band 5G across 600 MHz spectrum assets. Ray noted they can upgrade about 700 sites per week. For the 2.5 GHz mid-band 5G rollout, Ray said that the company has plans to penetrate the home broadband business and expand broadband to rural America.  The total number of 2.5 GHz sites that T-Mobile plans to deploy is in the mid-50,000 range. Ray said he believes the company can do that in the next few years. T-Mobile’s interest in the fixed broadband market isn’t unexpected. The company promised regulators that it would make fixed wireless service available to 90% of the U.S. population within six years of its merger with Sprint. The FCC also stipulated that two-thirds of the rural population would need access to 100 Mbps within that time frame.