US carrier T-Mobile has excluded Samsung Electronics from its 5G network rollout, TheElec has learned.
T-Mobile has secured 2.5GHz spectrum for 5G mid-band from its merger with Sprint.
Samsung was a supplier of 5G equipment for Sprint’s 2.5GHz spectrum, but the Korean firm failed to clinch a similar deal with T-Mobile after the merger.
T-Mobile said last week that it has signed 5-year contracts worth billions of dollars with Ericsson and Nokia. T-Mobile is owned by parent company Deutsche Telekom.
T-Mobile’s contract with the European equipment vendors will likely focus on 2.5GHz equipment for 5G. The carrier is currently providing 5G services with 600MHz spectrum. The company is calling it Extended Range 5G. Low spectrums have wider coverage but slower data transfer rates.
The carrier is calling its 2.5GHz mid-band spectrum Ultra Capacity 5G. It says the spectrum can offer an average data transfer rate of 300Mbps, and a maximum of 1Gbps.
Samsung had supplied Sprint with its 64T64R 5G massive MIMO equipment for 5G service in Chicago. The equipment is a top-tier 5G equipment.
Samsung was eyeing a large deal with AT&T, people familiar with the matter said. The Korean company last year clinched a 7.9 trillion won deal to supply 4G and 5G equipment with Verizon.
Back in 2010, Samsung had singed a 4G equipment supply deal with Sprint, entering the US market.
