A Texas Community Built for 5G

Developers hope 5G infrastructure will make Frisco Station a hub for self-driving cars, air taxis, and other futuristic technologies.

1 minute read

August 23, 2018, 7:00 AM PDT

By Elana Eden


Cellular Network

kriang phromphim / Shutterstock

A $1.5 billion development in North Texas will become one of the first to include 5G infrastructure from the ground up, the Dallas News reports. Frisco Station, a master-planned community in a booming part of North Texas, will be constructed to accommodate the next-generation mobile network thanks to a partnership with AT&T.

Incorporating the infrastructure for 5G—which is expected to debut in Dallas and other major markets at the end of this year—is intended to futureproof the development, allowing it to host future technologies that require faster and more robust internet service than existing infrastructure can offer. The goal is to create a cutting-edge environment that will attract and retain an elite workforce, writer Melissa Repko reports.

The infrastructure, which uses dense fiber and small cells, will help make the developers' vision for Frisco Station possible. Along with apartments and hotels, the site will include a 30-acre park with public Wi-Fi. Nearby, developer Hillwood and tech giant Uber plan to build a transit station where people can board an urban air taxi that shuttles them through the skies. And in the future, self-driving cars may roll around the development to pick up and drop off people. Silicon Valley-based Drive.ai is already testing its autonomous vehicles by driving around employees of Hall Park, a neighboring office campus.

Thursday, August 9, 2018 in Dallas News

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