AT&T unveiled its first standards-based device that will work on the carrier’s mobile 5G network: the Netgear Nighthawk 5G Mobile Hotspot.
The Netgear device was revealed when AT&T announced the successful completion of the first millimeter wave mobile 5G browsing session on a live mmWave network using what will become a commercially available 5G device. The test was conducted in Waco, Texas, and was supported by Ericsson equipment.
Further details about the device were scarce, though the Nighthawk 5G Mobile Hotspot is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X50 5G modem.
Pricing and additional information on Netgear’s mobile hotspot, which is exclusive to AT&T, will be released later this year.
“Today’s news is a seminal moment in the advancement of mobile 5G technology,” said David Christopher, president, AT&T Mobility and Entertainment, in a statement. “This proves we are well on our way to the promise of mobile 5G for consumers.”
Last week, on AT&T’s third-quarter earnings call, John Donavan the company’s chief executive of mobility business, said the carrier is on track to introduce 3GPP standards-based 5G mobile services “in the next few weeks.” AT&T has named a dozen cities where it promises to launch 5G services by the end of the year.
Verizon’s fixed wireless 5G in-home broadband offering went live in four cities Oct. 1, and the operator anticipates launching mobile 5G service next year.
As for earnings, AT&T reported 550,000 phone net additions for the period, 69,000 postpaid phone net adds and 570,000 prepaid net adds. Wireless service revenues rose 2.3 percent to $14 billion, even as the service provider did not make a major advertising or promotion pushes during the period.
Overall, AT&T reported consolidated revenues of $5.7 billion, up 15.3 percent year over year. This comes as the operator’s Entertainment Group saw revenues drop 7 percent to about $11.6 billion. AT&T lost 346,000 net video subscribers in the third-quarter, as subscriber additions for its vMVPD service DirecTV Now slowed to 49,000. This compares to 342,000 DirecTV Now additions in the previous quarter.