- UScellular enhanced its 5G network in the Mid-Atlantic region with Samsung solutions
- The network architecture supports UScellular’s fixed wireless access and mobile traffic
- How long the equipment stays after T-Mobile acquires most of UScellular’s network assets is anyone’s guess
The Shirelles made history in the 1960s with the hit “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” a song (sort of) questioning whether love is really everlasting. Some people are likely wondering the same thing when it comes to whether T-Mobile will stay true to Samsung's 5G network gear once it acquires UScellular's assets.
Samsung this week is celebrating the fact that it supplied 5G millimeter wave (mmWave) and virtualized Radio Access Network (vRAN) solutions to support UScellular’s fixed wireless access and mobile traffic in the Mid-Atlantic region. UScellular launched FWA in several markets in the area last November, and it’s done pretty well for itself with FWA in general.
But how long that Samsung equipment stays within UScellular’s network is anyone’s guess.
T-Mobile agreed in May 2024 to buy most of UScellular’s wireless operations for $4.4 billion, but that deal doesn’t include the 28 and 39 GHz spectrum that UScellular is using for this Samsung mmWave rollout. T-Mobile's acquisition of certain UScellular assets hasn’t yet closed and UScellular is required to run its business as usual until it’s a done deal.
Notably, T-Mobile doesn’t use Samsung network infrastructure gear in its own network, begging the question of what will happen once the deal closes.
T-Mobile didn’t respond to Fierce’s inquiry about what it plans to do with the Samsung gear post-transaction. Last fall, T-Mobile Chief Technology Officer John Saw told Fierce that the operator is happy with Ericsson and Nokia and wasn’t looking to switch vendors.
UScellular declined to comment. Ditto for Samsung, which said it couldn’t comment on the duration of its contract with UScellular or how much the contract is worth. UScellular’s markets in the Mid-Atlantic region include Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and a small part of Maryland.
UScellular launched FWA using mmWave spectrum several years ago. That deployment used infrastructure from Nokia and Ericsson. The operator also uses low and mid-band spectrum for FWA.
Survival odds?
Asked about the longevity of Samsung’s gear in UScellular’s network after it’s acquired by T-Mobile, analyst Earl Lum of EJL Wireless Research gave it low odds of survival.
“I would say the likelihood would be high that the Samsung gear gets ripped out,” Lum told Fierce.
Lum, who famously anticipated AT&T would boot Nokia in 2023, predicted last year that T-Mobile will ditch Nokia due to a multitude of technical issues, which he detailed in a LinkedIn piece. That hasn’t happened, but Lum isn’t backing away from his original thesis, suggesting it may be delayed by financial considerations that rival Ericsson could be making.
As for Samsung, it boasts No. 1 U.S. wireless carrier (by subscribers) Verizon as a 5G vRAN customer, so it’s doing pretty well for itself. Still, Samsung executives last year outlined their plans to focus on Tier 2 and 3 North American operators, including those looking to add FWA to their offerings.
One of Samsung's claims to fame is the ability to offer end-to-end solutions – from infrastructure to handsets. Lum at the time concluded that itself represents “a great opportunity” for Samsung in the U.S.
Who knows? Maybe Samsung will come back with an answer song all its own. Stranger things have happened.