T-Mobile and Nokia have joined forces to bring 5G to customers in a $3.5B deal that marks the world’s largest 5G award thus far.
The multi-year deal comes at a pivotal time for T-Mobile, who, as the number 3 network in the US, recently merged with Sprint to compete with Verizon and AT&T.
The deal reportedly puts the carrier, along with Nokia, first in line to deliver 5G nationwide.
4G, 5G, who gives a sh*t?
Answer: literally every telecom company in existence.
From a business perspective, 5G will be used for “the eventual development of new industrial automation, medical monitoring, driverless car and other business uses,” as Reuters reports.
In other words, 5G is the shiny new casing that will soon be airsealed over the building blocks of all industrial civilization (-10 points for the hyperbole).
Regardless, Nokia just received a major lifeline
Cash-conscious telecom operators have been slow to acknowledge the next-gen network’s healing powers due to the cost of infrastructure upgrades. But for consumers, 5G promises to open Pandora’s box… at lightning speed, of course.
Anticipation has caused 4G’s demand to wane in recent years, rattling companies like Nokia, who, until telecom companies fully buy into 5G, still have a 4G product to push.
Now, Nokia holds the power to keep it moving
Nokia will supply a range of 5G hardware, software, and cloud services to T-Mobile to help them deliver broad coverage at ultra high-speed capacity.
According to CNET, LA and New York will be first to get the next-gen network, even though T-Mobile isn’t expected to launch commercially until 2019 when 5G phones are rumored to roll out.