AT&T: First 5G markets in Austin and Indianapolis will deliver wireless speeds of 400Mbps or higher

Your network experience is more than just a “G” thing. It’s more than just speeds and feeds. It’s about what you can do with your connection. What your connection does for you. It’s about security and privacy. It’s about being data-powered.

It’s about software control and embracing the power and innovation of the open source community. AT&T is bringing this all together in a platform called AT&T Network 3.0 Indigo (“Indigo”).

“We see Indigo as the third generation of modern networking,” said John Donovan, chief strategy officer and group president, Technology and Operations. “Indigo is our term for a world where it isn’t just your connection speeds that are accelerating, but every element of the network becomes more seamless, efficient and capable. It is a living, evolving, upgradeable platform. Think of Indigo like the operating system on your phone. We’re taking that model to the network.”

People won’t ask how fast their connection is. They’ll ask, ‘Can I livestream a virtual reality broadcast of my trip to the beach?’, or ‘Can my bank securely and quickly authenticate a purchase I want to make when I’m traveling?’

Wireless technologies like 5G will be part of what enables that experience. But elements like Big Data, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, cybersecurity and software-defined networking (SDN) are just as critical. All of that is Indigo.

The company will launch the first “5G Evolution Markets” in the coming months in Austin and Indianapolis. AT&T expects the wireless network to offer theoretical peak speeds of 400Mbps or higher.

As the carrier continues to densify its network and deploying technologies, like carrier aggregation and LTE-License Assisted Access (LAA), that will enable theoretical peak speeds up to 1Gbps in some areas in 2017.

Data on the mobile network has increased about 250,000% since 2007, and most of that traffic is video.

Last month, AT&T used healthcare as an example of our vision. Doctors, hospitals, pharmacies and researchers all want better, trusted ways to share data while maintaining patient privacy.

This could speed the cure of cancer and other diseases. Patients could participate in medical trials far away from university hospitals. Imagine a data-sharing community for smart cities initiatives.