Masts in London get additional 28Ghz spectrum for 5G

A UK-based infrastructure company has acquired an additional 28GHz spectrum license for Central and Greater London which will enhance its existing Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) plans.

This 28GHz spectrum will be used for preliminary 5G tests and countries such as America, Japan and South Korea have already used a similar testing platform on Fixed Wireless Access service trials.

FWA means ultra-fast, high bandwidth home broadband using wireless technology rather than conventional fibre-optic or copper wiring. It’s expected to become the first commercial use of 5G technology over the next few years.

Nicolas Ott, Managing Director of Telecoms & M2M at Arqiva, said: “5G FWA is an exciting opportunity to deliver true ultrafast broadband above 500Mbps to millions of households; this is especially relevant in the UK where so few households are connected by fibre to the home (FTTH) or fibre to the cabinet (FTTC). FWA has the ability to become a truly alternative technology to deliver fibre-like services. In purchasing this additional licence we are able to further our ambitions in this area, standing ourselves in good stead to deliver a compelling 5G FWA wholesale service to UK mobile and fixed operators across the country, and with even more capacity in Greater London.”

Some of you may remember that Arqiva and Samsung suggested they’ll be conducting the UK’s first 5G FWA tiral in London this summer…