DOD names 5G test sites
7 November 2019 |BY MARK ROCKWELL | GCN.com |
The Defense Department has selected the sites where it will test emerging 5G wireless services and infrastructure.
Joint Base Lewis-McChor, in Washington state, Hill Air Force Base in Utah, The Navy’s Base in San Diego and the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Albany, Ga., will be the first installations to help DOD map out possible future uses of 5G technology, the agency said in an Oct. 31 statement.
The DOD said it chose the four bases – one in each service — because they can provide streamlined access to a variety of technologies and facilities vital to 5G, including local spectrum bands, mature fiber optic cable and wireless infrastructure and the ability to conduct controlled experiments with shared spectrum capabilities.
DOD CIO Dana Deasy told reporters at a June briefing that the goal with 5G testbeds was to end up with capabilities that can continue to be used after testing is completed.
“One of the things we want to do is not just go in there and do experimentation and pull it out, but to actually leave a capability behind that the bases can continue to use from the 5G standpoint,” Deasy said.
On Oct. 23, DOD teed up plans for an initial round of solicitations for 5G experiments to test dynamic spectrum sharing in congested environments; another for an integrated augmented/virtual reality mission and training applications and another for a smart warehouse application with maximized logistics capabilities.
DOD said in October that it would send out the draft requests this month, with the final request for proposals out by December, along with an industry day. However, the launch of procurements for the program, DOD said, hinge on Congress passing 2020 appropriations.
This article was first posted to FCW, a sibling site to GCN.
Link To Pentagon: 5G tests to begin at four US military bases