T-Mobile US’ network engineering prowess reached new heights today as the operator activated the world's first standalone (SA) 5G network operating on a 5G core. The achievement expands the reach of its 5G network by 30% with a footprint that now covers nearly 250 million people in more than 7,500 markets across 1.3 million square miles, according to the operator.

The move also continues a streak of firsts for T-Mobile. It was the last of the four nationwide mobile operators to deploy 5G, but it leapfrogged its competitors eight months ago with the first “nationwide” 5G network in the country covering about 61% of the total U.S. population at the end of 2019. It later claimed a series of standalone 5G firsts, following tests in anticipation of today’s roll out.

AT&T’s 5G network reached “nationwide” coverage last month with a footprint covering 205 million people in 395 markets across the country. The operator previously said it would deploy 5G in standalone mode this year, but it hasn’t provided any recent updates on that effort.

Verizon maintains that it will reach nationwide 5G coverage by the end of the year, riding heavily on dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS). Full commercialization of its SA 5G core will occur in 2021, the operator said last month.  

T-Mobile US’ long, hard-fought battle to merge with Sprint is fueling many of its recent network advancements, according to Neville Ray, the carrier’s president of technology. 

“Since Sprint became part of T-Mobile, we’ve been rapidly combining networks for a supercharged un-carrier while expanding our nationwide 5G footprint, and today we take a massive step into the future with standalone 5G architecture,” he said in a statement. “This is where it gets interesting, opening the door for massive innovation in this country — and while the other guys continue to play catch up, we’ll keep growing the world’s most advanced 5G network.”

T-Mobile US’ feat is particularly impressive on the global stage, affording it bragging rights well beyond the confines of the U.S. market. SK Telecom, which laid claim to the world’s first commercially available standards-based mobile 5G network operating on a non-standalone (NSA) core in December 2018, repeatedly claimed it would be the first operator to deploy a standalone 5G core. 

The South Korean operator failed to meet that goal, originally pinned on the first half of 2020, and has now lost the race to T-Mobile US, an operator that went from nationwide 5G in NSA to SA mode in the span of eight months.

“T-Mobile has been making a lot of noise about moving to SA, but it is an impressive feat to be the first in the world,” Lynnette Luna, principal analyst at GlobalData, wrote in response to questions. “All carriers, however, are keen to deploy SA, and we will likely see a domino effect later this year.”

Indeed, some operators in China, South Korea, Japan, Europe, and the U.S. intend to deploy a 5G core before the end of the year. Many more operators are expected to deploy 5G in standalone mode in 2021. 

“It’s a nice bragging point for T-Mobile, but the bigger benefits come down the line when more smartphones are SA enabled and we can finally see some of the promises of 5G come into fruition with the introduction of lower latency, real-time applications,” Luna explained. 

T-Mobile US claims that its standalone 5G network is delivering a 40% improvement in latency during testing and hints at further improvements to come. The technology also enables the carrier to cover “hundreds of square miles from a single tower,” according to the operator. 

While heralding it as an impressive feat, multiple analysts told SDxCentral they’re not surprised that T-Mobile US is the first operator to deploy a standalone 5G network.

“A disruptor needs to disrupt. [T-Mobile’s] current competitive positioning with 5G is to have the broadest nationwide coverage, and SA helps with that,” said Susan Welsh de Grimaldo, director at Strategy Analytics. “SA also helps unleash the creativity for innovation in services that really take advantage of 5G, so I expect to see T-Mobile continue to ramp up its work with an expanding ecosystem of partner, including startups, developers, and industry verticals for longer term positioning and service expansion with network slicing." 

A standalone 5G network operating on a 5G core also “promises to unlock several features missing from NSA 5G,” Luna said. However, she noted that only two smartphones are currently compatible with T-Mobile US’ standalone 5G network — both devices require a software upgrade and “in some instances customers might need a new SIM card. So most customers today cannot take advantage of these improvements.”

T-Mobile US said Cisco and Nokia contributed to its 5G core while Ericsson and Nokia remain its exclusive vendors for radio access network (RAN) equipment. The operator did not respond to questions about how it integrated offerings from multiple vendors for this effort and, as such, the unique features being provided by each vendor on the 5G core remains unclear.