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AT&T to bring 5G streams to NBA summer league in Vegas

Video will be livestreamed from Samsung phones in the stands to the NBA production truck and then to ESPN's network broadcast offices.

Corinne Reichert Senior Editor
Corinne Reichert (she/her) grew up in Sydney, Australia and moved to California in 2019. She holds degrees in law and communications, and currently writes news, analysis and features for CNET across the topics of electric vehicles, broadband networks, mobile devices, big tech, artificial intelligence, home technology and entertainment. In her spare time, she watches soccer games and F1 races, and goes to Disneyland as often as possible.
Expertise News, mobile, broadband, 5G, home tech, streaming services, entertainment, AI, policy, business, politics Credentials
  • I've been covering technology and mobile for 12 years, first as a telecommunications reporter and assistant editor at ZDNet in Australia, then as CNET's West Coast head of breaking news, and now in the Thought Leadership team.
Corinne Reichert
2 min read
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AT&T's 5G network is taking it to the hoop this summer.

Joshua Goldman/CNET

AT&T's super speedy 5G network is coming to the MGM Resorts NBA Summer League in Las Vegas this month, the carrier said Wednesday. AT&T will work with the NBA to use 5G to stream video at games on July 10 and 11.

5G, the next-generation mobile technology, provides faster speeds, more capacity and lower latency (the time it takes a stream or download to begin once you've requested it). AT&T initially launched 5G in December in parts of Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina; Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Waco, Texas; Jacksonville, Florida; Louisville, Kentucky; and Atlanta, Indianapolis, New Orleans and Oklahoma City.

Watch this: AT&T 5G network has some of the fastest speeds we've seen

In April AT&T expanded its 5G network to parts of Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose and San Diego, California; Austin, Texas; Orlando, Florida; and Nashville.

AT&T then added 5G to Vegas at the end of June.

During the NBA games, AT&T will partner with Ericsson to allow the NBA to livestream video from Samsung devices in the stands to the NBA production truck, using the LiveU Smart mobile app. This footage will then be transferred from the truck to ESPN's network broadcast offices to be used in live coverage of the games.

State Sen. Mo Denis said it'll showcase what benefits 5G can bring. AT&T said it "could open up new ways for fans to engage with the games and their broadcasts."

CNET's tests of the AT&T 5G network saw speeds that were consistently over 1Gbps, often hitting 1.6 to 1.7Gbps. After running 12 tests with the Speedtest.net benchmarking app, eight were over 1.4Gbps.

5G phones are here: Galaxy S10 5G, OnePlus 7 Pro 5G, LG V50, Moto Z4 and more