Pixel 3 owners can soon look forward to a new LTE band
Unless you live in a rural area, chances are your cell reception should be pretty decent. Of we wouldn’t go as far as calling it perfect, but for day-to-day you shouldn’t have any major issues. However what if you could eliminate any and all issues completely? That’s what Google is hoping to do with its Pixel 3 smartphones.
According to a recently published FCC document, Google has plans to enable LTE Band 48 on their Pixel 3 smartphones via a future software update. What does this mean for Pixel 3 owners? The update should open up additional capacity for carrier networks, which in theory could result in better coverage and improved speeds in places where there might be signal issues or network congestion. Basically, it’s good news.
Known as Citizens Broadband Radio Services (CBRS), LTE Band 48 was previously only used for government radar, mainly for military communications. Recently the FCC has expressed interest in commercializing it, and the Pixel 3 could soon be taking advantage of this. This seems to apply to the Pixel 3 with the model number G013A.
This particular model is basically the international version of the phone sold in most places around the world (save for Japan), including Verizon, which means that most Pixel 3 handsets should benefit from it when the update is rolled out and when service providers start using Band 48. Verizon already uses it in Boca Raton, Florida, but the other major US carriers have yet to announce any plans to the band.
Source: Droid-Life