Get the latest international telecom news this week of July 30, 2019.
Is America ready for a bigger Un-carrier? Last Friday, July 26, The US Department of Justice has signed off the $26.5 billion merger between T-Mobile and Sprint. The two are the US’ top 3rd and 4th cellular carriers, respectively. The merger will make the carriers more competitive with AT&T and Verizon. It will also be beneficial for them in the wake of 5G development as the two companies share network resources.
Since 2013, T-Mobile and Sprint have initiated attempts on the merger, only to be shut down by the US government’s regulators.
Speaking of 5G, the technology is well underway, but have been in deployment across the world in a very limited range. This network promises faster connection speeds and lower latency but will require a different and expanded infrastructure to support its millimeter wave (which has a shorter range compared to 4G LTE’s radio frequency wave). So far, only a handful of devices in the international market are 5G capable. This includes: Samsung Galaxy S10, OnePlus 7 Pro, Huawei Mate X (which is a foldable phone), LG V50 ThinQ, Oppo Reno, and Xiaomi 5G Mi MIX 3, among a few more that have been or will release this year. As a rule, make sure to inquire if a specific device is 5G ready; many of these devices also have their non-5G versions.
We can definitely expect more 5G compatible devices to come out soon, including the 2020 iPhone releases. It has been confirmed that the 2019 iPhones to come out this September will not be 5G ready yet.
