The Federal Communications Commission auction of C-band spectrum is underway. The auction represents 280 Megahertz of mid-band spectrum in the 3.7-3.98 GHz band, and is the largest mid-band 5G spectrum auction held in the United States to this point.
New performance data from Speedtest shows why the U.S. C-band auctions and Citizens Broadband Radio Service are so important: they provide the mid-band spectrum required to provide order of magnitude higher speeds and coverage at the same time.
U.S. operators have launched 5G coverage operations with low-band spectrum, which has generally meant speeds not dissimilar to 4G.
Millimeter wave operations provide high capacity, but not coverage. The reliance on low-band spectrum for coverage and millimeter wave for urban high-traffic areas is not so much a choice as a restriction.
Compared to virtually all other nations, U.S. mobile operators have had very little mid-band spectrum available to use, as most of the spectrum already had been allocated to other uses.
And that mid-band spectrum is what provides the immediate lift in mobile speeds when 5G is launched.
Over time, as the new mid-band spectrum is put to use, U.S. 5G speeds will normalize, possibly at the end of 2021 or early in 2022.
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