AT&T, a leading telecom operator in the US, has revealed the latest progress on the Project AirGig that will use the power grid to deliver broadband internet.
AT&T has started discussions with technology suppliers to start testing and building the AirGig equipment for the commercial launch. AT&T will conduct another field trial to focus on surface-wave systems, which could provide an important ingredient in a future 5G world.

“We think Project AirGig and 5G have a lot of natural synergies, and we plan to test 5G paired with AirGig in the future.

AT&T is yet to announce a date for the commercial deployment of AirGig. AT&T said it will expand field trials with technology supplier with a goal of eventually making gigabit-speed internet as widespread as electricity.

“We’ve applied for more than 500 patents for AirGig and conducted field trials both in and outside the United States,” Andre Fuetsch, president, AT&T Labs and Chief Technology Offer, said.

AT&T last year launched a trial of Project AirGig technology in Georgia with Georgia Power and provided a fixed wireless application to participating homes. It used a combination of mmWave and LTE spectrum.

AT&T used plastic antenna prototypes installed along the utility poles and observed no degradation of the mmWave signals during rain and other weather events.

AT&T provided a system which delivered hundreds of megabits per second to a number of residential locations in a rural part of the state.

AT&T said trial participants used easy-to-install receiver equipment, which allowed them to access high speed internet within 10 minutes.