Last Thursday, international telecommunications leaders T-Mobile teamed up with Nokia and Qualcomm to reach 5G network speeds of over 200 Mbps. To achieve its 5G connectivity landmark, T-Mobile and its project partners leveraged uplink carrier aggregation, marking the worlds-first live commercial 5G standalone network in the US.
T-Mobile and Nokia leveraged a test smartphone containing Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 5G Modem-RF System. The device reached a top upload speed of 207 Mbps during the test. According to T-Mobile, the firm recorded its “fastest-ever” 5G measurement using a sub-6 GHz spectrum.
T-Mobile’s 5G carrier aggregation innovation allows the firms to combine multiple carriers/channels, which enables optimized networking speed and performance.
By combining two channels into one, T-Mobile can optimize various traffic channels with a data “super highway.” Customers can access T-Mobile’s 5G carrier aggregation service during its initial roll-out in early 2024.
The news comes after T-Mobile gained awards from Accenture-owned firm umlaut, highlighting T-Mobile’s 5G success. umlaut sourced its data and gave its award based on 29.6 billion samples from the telecommunications company’s massive 1.2 million plus 5G user base.
During the umlaut awards ceremony, T-Mobile took home the following accolades: overall highest 5G score, best 5G coverage, best 5G stability, best 5G download speeds, and best 5G upload speeds.
Ulf Ewaldsson, the President of Technology at T-Mobile, added:
Our network was built to enhance the way people live their day-to-day lives. The results from umlaut prove that for millions of people around the country, our network is performing the best in the places and ways that matter most to them.
What Does it Mean for XR?
5G is an increasingly incremental technology for the success of XR. An immersive service requires the delivery of big RT3D data assets, sometimes from various channels, which 5G can optimize. Moreover, an enterprise end-user delivering immersive content can achieve distribution and performance optimization success via 5G networking.
In its recent uplink carrier aggregation, T-Mobile aims to increase the data businesses can send to consumer devices, notably XR content. Additionally, T-Mobile outlines that the optimized 5G service can enhance applications like video live streaming, video conferencing, and gaming.
Ewaldsson also added:
T-Mobile has led the industry with 5G standalone since 2020, and we’re continuing to drive breakthroughs that advance 5G technology around the globe. We’re building the most advanced 5G network in the world, opening the door for massive innovation and laying the foundation for new capabilities that will transform the world around us.
Late last month, T-Mobile continued its 5G accelerator programme, which historically includes many XR firms and innovators.
This time, T-Mobile chose nine start-ups looking to innovate in delivering entertainment for sports and entertainment broadcasting.
T-Mobile XR in Sport and Entertainment Accelerator
Of its nine start-ups, T-Mobile is supporting four XR innovators.
Firstly, FansXR is a T-Mobile 5G accelerator firm which operates an XR streaming platform delivering AR and 360-degree video to digital devices and Metaverse-ready hardware using 5G and edge computing solutions. In the sports and live event market, the FansXR service can geolocate in-stadium athletes to provide AR overviews of performance stats, game data, and other metrics.
Another XR firm T-Mobile is assisting is ForwARdgame which leverages AR and VR immersive worlds that allow fans to exercise with immersive games promoting physical activity.
Ydrive is a smartphone application service provider that enables users to capture photorealistic RT3D digital twins of real-life assets with a handful of photos. The platform also leverages AI to enable realistic digital twins and 3D maps, including stunning visuals, semantic understanding, and metadata.
The firm designed its AI-ready solution for content creation in use cases such as immersive gaming, movie production, architectural preservation, real estate, and robotics.
Finally, T-Mobile supports Immersal’s Visual Positioning (VPS) technology solution, allowing end-users to convert any city, venue or area into a spatial data map. The service can place digital or immersive assets in a real-world location for various commercial AR experiences, autonomous vehicles, and robots.
Other Participating
Additionally, T-Mobile supports many other firms during its most recent accelerator run.
MeetMo is another accelerator participator that delivers a cloud-native platform which uses 5G to connect devices and people to facilitate real-time collaboration.
APP CATS delivers CrowdSOLUTIONS that enable interactive avenues to enhance viewer engagement with a 5G-enabled live streaming platform. The firm’s service further allows viewers to participate in an event by providing surveying tools and fan engagement rewards. APP CATS distributes its solution as turn-key plug-ins or a custom standalone platform.
E Audio is developing a “fan-first technology” that synchronizes crowds via in-venue speakers and fans’ mobile devices to capture simultaneous selfies, choreographed cell phone-powered light shows, and multiplayer trivia games.
Moreover, the accelerator highlighted two start-ups which promote First-Person-View (FPV) technology which places viewers closer to the action.
MindFly is creating fully automated FPV solutions to optimize what viewers see, hear, and feel during the action of a sporting event. The firm’s solution aims to provide an avenue to see through the eyes of athletes and referees during official games, exhibition games, and behind-the-scenes training. The firm also works to deliver its FPV capture to social media and broadcasting platforms.
Also, T-Mobile chose to assist PixelFly in delivering FPV drone coverage for broadcast and marketing events. The firm leverages custom drones for FPV capture to provide footage and experiences impossible via existing drone solutions.
Snapdragon Spaces Accelerator
Last year, T-Mobile started its XR Accelerator programme. The accelerator aimed to promote immersive content creation and delivery on T-Mobile’s 5G network and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Spaces XR Developer Platform.
The Snapdragon Space Accelerator chose the XR firms Beem, Krikey, Mawari, Mohx-Games, Pluto, and VictoryXR. T-Mobile’s accelerator aims to promote XR growth with 5G connectivity across various vertical markets. The firm supports over 80 start-ups covering a range of use cases, including entertainment, gaming, education, travel, health and wellness, and hospitality.
