Alcatel Readies a 5G Mi-Fi Hotspot with USB-C (and no Wi-Fi?)

CRANK

One of the major use cases driving 5G development and deployment is the need for high-speed Internet connectivity in locations where it is impossible (or expensive) to cover the last mile via cables. Both carriers and hardware makers, in turn, are looking to capitalize on this by offering service contracts and high-end 5G mobile hotspots. TCL, the company behind Alcatel and BlackBerry smartphones, is prepping a rather interesting device: a 5G Mi-Fi, a 5G hotspot with a USB Type-C interface.The Alcatel "5G USB Device" (which will likely go by other names when distributed by the carriers) supports download speeds of up to 2 Gbps (using 4x4 MIMO) and upload speeds of up to 1 Gbps (using 2x2 MIMO). The hotspot is based on MediaTek’s Helio M70 modem, which supports 5G NR/LTE and 5G NSA & SA on the sub-6 GHz band. So the hotspot won't have access to mmWave and the even higher bandwidths that provides, but sub-6 is better suited for the kind of last-mile deployments that rural 5G will be ai…