The company holds high-frequency radio licenses key to deploying superfast wireless technology.
AT&T wants a leg up in the 5G race.
AT&T just made its 5G ambitions a little closer to reality.
The telecommunications giant said Monday that it will acquire Straight Path Communications. The little-known company holds a swath of nationwide high-frequency radio licenses in the 39 gigahertz and 28 gigahertz bands.
That spectrum will be crucial if AT&T wants to deploy a large-scale wireless network running on 5G. The next-generation technology is expected to bring an ultra-fast connection, but it requires far higher frequency spectrum than what current wireless technology uses. (Much of the LTE in the US is powered by 700 megahertz spectrum).
