Its test took place in a remote part of Missouri, far from any other mobile networks.
The drones are staged already in warehouses, ready for use.
The need for disaster response technology might seem remote.
“Emergency preparedness and disaster recovery for the carriers has become critically important,” Technalysis Research analystBob O’Donnellsaid.
“These COWs literally become a lifeline.”
Another is lower latency, which means services on the data pipe are more responsive.
Verizon in 2021 showed offThor, a hulking truck that’s a mobile 5G base station.
AndT-Mobile has its own portable online grid vehicles, satellite cells on wheels and satellite cells on light trucks.
It’s also hardening its networks and adding more backup generators in case of power loss.
The shorter-range mmWave technology offers dramatic speeds beyond 1Gbps.
So are new data pipe services like wireless home broadband and always-connected PCs.
For emergency services, 5G’s improved ability to handle lots of devices is important, O’Donnell said.
“Moving it to 5G is going to make it significantly better.”
