Intel to update 5G testing device to meet standards

Chipmaker Intel Corp said on Thursday that it was updating 5G equipment that will allow telecom companies like AT&T Inc and Verizon Communications Inc to run trials based on standards to be released later this year.

A 5G network is expected to offer faster speeds, more capacity and shorter response times while supporting uses ranging from self-driving cars to remote surgeries. Telecom companies and their suppliers consider it to be a multibillion-dollar revenue opportunity.

Intel has five 5G trials with global service providers and 15 more in the pipeline, Chief Executive Officer Brian Krzanich said on a post-earnings conference call in July.

One such trial, with wireless carrier AT&T, involves a 5G broadband service that could be introduced as soon as late 2018.

Intel’s mobile trial equipment, which looks like a large box, handles the processing needs for a 5G connection. The updated version, slated for the fourth quarter, will support new 5G standards that the Third Generation Partnership Project, a telecom group known as 3GPP, is expected to release in late 2017.

As a result, the new platform will allow Intel’s partners to “really see what works and what doesn‘t,” Rob Topol, general manager of 5G business and technology, said in an interview.

Intel participated in 3GPP’s working groups to develop the 5G standards, Topol said. 3GPP also developed current mobile phone standards for 4G LTE.