Why is C-band the sweet spot for 5G?

The debate over 5G’s efficiency has been brewing for a while now. While many feel that 5G is probably just a hoax with its capacity being just a tiff over 4G, the 5G providers are in a gust to include a capacity that would sharpen the offerings over 4G. 

The C-band 5G network encompasses wider bandwidth than the spectrums that have been used till now. 

Verizon claims that the C-band network is up to 10 times faster than 4G LTE with a download speed of over 1 Gbps in some areas.  

The C-band is essentially used in satellite communication between ground stations and satellites. Frequencies from 5.925 to 6.425 Gigahertz (GHz) are used for uplink direction which means from the ground station to satellite and from 3.7 to 4.2 GHz are used for downlink direction, meaning satellite to ground station.   

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (IEEE) has designated C-band for a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum measured between 4.0 to 8.0 GHz.   

The piece of the spectrum that AT&T and Version are pinning on is between 3.7 to 3.98 GHz which is used for satellite communication, Wi-Fi devices as well as weather radar systems.   

A major highlight of the C-band is that it sits between 3.4 GHz and 4.2 GHz and is coming up as a major resource for low capacity without accruing high-cost investments that would ideally be required for infrastructure upgrade.  

Given the present context, PC Magzine says that the state of 5G in the US is facing a bit of turbulence.  

“For 5G to offer an experience that's noticeably better than 4G, it needs broad, dedicated channels, ideally 50MHz or wider. While to cover entire cities, it needs to be on a frequency below about 6GHz, so it can get decent range from towers,” it said.

As of now, Verizon and AT&T are not using any airwaves that address these concerns. Verizon may be able to work out something using the new CBRS airwaves just beneath the C-band, “but the jury's still out on that”.

In this scenario both the telcos are providing 5G that either has a poor range or is not faster than LTE.  

C-band can solve this. 

In the US, “The government auctioned off 280MHz of airwaves that are likely to go up to about a half-mile from each tower,” it said. 

In this case, there is enough bandwidth for the varied wireless carriers to have sturdy 5G mostly operating on the existing cell sites.