mmWave 5G in 2023: Fast, but still expensive and hard to find

Several new research reports help paint a clear picture of the current status of millimeter-wave (mmWave) 5G in the US and globally. Broadly, the findings show that the technology supports speedy connections but remains relatively pricey and scarce.

First, a new report from network-monitoring company Ookla – which offers the popular Speedtest app – shows that mmWave connections continue to offer blazing-fast speeds when compared with other types of 5G signals.

“Our data shows that users on 5G mmWave achieved speeds that are 4.29 times faster than midband, 6.86 times faster than C-band, and a staggering 26.1 times faster than a lowband,” Ookla’s Sylwia Kechiche wrote on the firm’s website, in assessing the performance of 5G in the US market.

The findings are noteworthy considering US operators, particularly Verizon, pursued the mmWave flavor of 5G in the early days of the technology. mmWave spectrum bands generally sit above 20GHz – far above the spectrum bands traditionally used for cellular operations – and were considered mostly unusable for decades. But 5G technology promised to support high-speed mobile operations in the mmWave spectrum bands.

There’s a catch, though. Transmissions in mmWave spectrum can’t travel more than a few thousand feet, and often cannot penetrate glass or trees. Transmissions in traditional, lowband cellular spectrum bands, such as 800MHz or 1900MHz, can often travel miles and reach deep inside buildings. Indeed, Ookla’s findings in 2021 showed that the average mobile user in the US connected to a mmWave 5G network less than 1% of the time.

Likely as a result, US operators in recent years have shifted their interest toward midband spectrum, including 2.5GHz and C-band. That spectrum covers wide geographic areas and offers speedy connections – albeit not as fast as mmWave.

“Ookla Q4 2022 data from the US shows mmWave is achieving mind blowing speeds – almost 1.6 Gbit/s median 5G download speed – 26 times faster than the median 5G speed on lowband, almost seven times faster than the C-band, and four times than midband,” Ookla’s Kechiche wrote.

To read the complete article, visit Light Reading.