Built for the 5G future: T-Mobile opens new Device Lab

If you build it, 5G innovation will come. T-Mobile (NASDAQ: TMUS) just opened its new device lab, a 20,000 square foot facility built to test smartphones and any other devices that connect to the Un-carrier’s network using any technology available, including 5G, 4G LTE, 3G, LAA, Narrowband IoT and more. The space is made up of more than a dozen testing areas where T-Mobile engineers analyze and fine-tune everything from network signal quality, voice call and sound quality, data throughput and video optimization … to in-depth testing of the latest software, applications and services. Devices are also pressure tested for durability — even the ability to withstand extremes like heat, water, tumbles and drops. The lab also includ es equipment designed specifically to test devices using low-band, mid-band and millimeter wave 5G spectrum — allowing engineers to tap into all of T-Mobile’s current and planned multi-band 5G network to ensure devices in customers’ hands deliver the best experience possible.

The new device lab is smack dab in the middle of T-Mobile’s Launch Pad innovation center in Bellevue, Washington, which also houses the Un-carrier’s network lab and the Tech Experience. The Launch Pad was built to bring device and network quality engineers together to innovate and refine technologies from end-to-end before delivering them to customers. And that’s critical when it comes to 5G with brand new technology in both the network and devices that needs to work together seamlessly for customers.

“5G will unlock SO MANY new capabilities and opportunities for innovation. And with that comes new complexities in delivering the technology to customers,” said Neville Ray, Chief Technology Officer at T-Mobile. “We’ve evolved in this new era of wireless to deliver continuous innovation and the best 5G experience possible — from the network to the devices in their hands — which is why I’m So. Damn. Proud. of this amazing team and cutting-edge lab.”

T-Mobile is in a unique position to roll out broad 5G to customers quickly with its dedicated low-band 600 MHz spectrum, and if regulators approve the merger with Sprint, New T-Mobile will have the critical mid-band spectrum to add greater capacity and supercharge that network. The new device lab is equipped with new, rigorous tests to ensure smartphones, IoT devices and any other connected devices take full advantage of the high-, mid- and low-band spectrum from New T-Mobile 5G, if the merger is approved.