Introduction to T-Mobile’s 5G Advanced
It’s ready now; they just have to flip a switch. They have to make a few tweaks. But one thing I want to talk about here, which is very interesting, is there are going to be several parts and specifications that will qualify as 5G Advanced.
Key Features: Red Cap and L4S
The biggest two that T-Mobile will add in for the end of the year are Red Cap and then L4S. L4S is interesting, and it stands for low latency, low loss, scalable throughput. It’s a video priority technology that creates a better video experience for different applications. So my question is, was video that bad to begin with? No, you have boatloads of capacity right now if people are on the right plan. Right? The highest plans should have full access to the entire low latency and highest throughput possible. So why are we implementing L4S already? Are we dealing with congestion issues already? Do we have to manage the network differently? Right? That’s a question that can be asked.
Network Congestion and Its Implications
During conditions of network congestion, there is signaling going from the network to the app that tells it to slow down the bit rates to adapt to the conditions. So you always get optimal rates through whatever video you’re watching, the executive said so.
Again, conditions of network congestion. Are we running into that already? No, so I don’t know why that is being hyped up as a big technology for 5G Advanced when we don’t really have congestion just yet. And then another thing too, like to slow down the bit rates and stuff, we already see that now if you’re on YouTube and you’re streaming in a higher quality and the network can’t handle it. If you hand it off to a site that’s slower, it’ll either buffer or it’ll lower the bit rate. It’ll put you down to 720, 360, 480, whatever the case. So I don’t know why that’s being hyped up as such a big deal for 5G Advanced.
Analyst Insights on L4S Technology
So, temporary expectations there. Recon Analytics analyst Scholer said that the L4S technology is a good way to improve video streaming on 5G networks, which usually isn’t bad anyway. So I agree with that; it’s not bad right now. We’re not at the point where I feel this needs to be a hyped-up technology. The network is still growing; it’s still getting faster. So why are we pushing a technology that manages the connection better? Why don’t we wait until we have that slowdown?
The Future of 5G Advanced and L4S
So it’s pretty interesting in terms of adding the low latency communications. The analyst said this technology will enable better critical communications, improve gaming, and video streaming. I may be right; maybe at a time when we have more congestion, when the networks are slower, this could play a bigger role. But I think right now the networks are fast, plenty fast. We’re doing FWA, excess capacity.
Right? I, for one, am more interested in AI RAN. How can we, in real time, offload excess capacity to secondhand workloads quicker? Right? Like FWA or whatever use case comes up in the future. I’m more interested in that being, you know, 5G Advance or whatever 6G. But for now, the Red Cap and then the L4S, just in my book, are not a big deal. T-Mobile is able to handle the workloads today.
Conclusion: Managing Expectations for 5G Advanced
I think slicing, if network slicing is considered 5G Advanced, I think that’s a bigger deal in my opinion for 5G Advanced. And then, you know, voice over NR, if that’s 5G, I think that’s a bigger deal in my opinion. But L4S? No, I don’t think that’s a big technology to really brag about and to say a huge boost is coming. You’re not going to all of a sudden see a huge improvement of faster speeds because of 5G Advanced. It’s just what you’re seeing now.
If it is perceived to be 30% better, like if you do get FDD massive MIMO at scale in your market, 30% is like another 100 megabits per second. So you’re not going to go from 500 to 1.3 gigs. Right? That’s going to have to be backhaul and deploying all the spectrum that they own in the toolbox to see that improvement in more sites and more small cells. That’s going to lead to a huge boost, but L4S is not going to lead to a huge boost in performance.
So I just wanted to talk about that briefly. Temporary expectations on that. You might have a smoother experience on FaceTime, whatever, if the connections are more evenly balanced with this technology, but the network can handle it today. It’s plenty fast. Maybe a few years from now, this will play a bigger role. But for now, the network can handle it.