T‑Mobile Launches World’s First Nationwide Standalone 5G Network

Nothing says “nationwide” coverage like launching your 5G in a town like Lisbon, North Dakota, population of about 2,000. That’s where T-Mobile staged a drone show on Sunday night to let folks know its standalone (SA) version of 5G is available nationwide. To be precise, T-Mobile said its SA deployment expands its 5G footprint to 1.3 million square miles, an expansion of about 30% compared to what it had with NSA by itself, and its 5G is now in more than 7,500 cites and towns across the country. The SA version initially is using its 600 MHz spectrum. “Standalone 5G really is the future of wireless connectivity,” said Karri Kuoppamaki, vice president of Technology Development and Strategy at T-Mobile, who noted that SA is what enables the more transformative 5G capabilities like self-driving vehicles, super-charged IoT and real-time translation.