T-Mobile US began piloting a gigabit fibre service in New York City, pitching it into competition with Verizon, Charter Communications and more than 12 other ISPs.

Speaking at an annual technology conference hosted by investment bank Oppenheimer, T-Mobile CFO Peter Osvaldik explained the operator is leasing fibre lines in Manhattan for what he described as a limited trial.

“Certainly our premiere and our flagship focus from a home broadband perspective is our fixed wireless play”, Osvaldik said. T-Mobile offers fixed wireless access broadband to homes and businesses on mid-band 5G spectrum.

A dedicated T-Mobile website revealed the fibre trial offers symmetrical 940Mb/s data rates. Customers get a free Wi-Fi 6 router and are not required to sign annual contracts.

T-Mobile is the only nationwide US mobile operator which does not own significant fibre assets.

Fibre is one of the resources operators are struggling to secure as global supply chains adjust to changes triggered by trade tensions and the Covid-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.

At the same Oppenheimer event this week, AT&T CFO Pascal Desroches explained it had trimmed its 2021 fibre deployment targets from 3 million locations to 2.5 million due to supply chain constraints.

Fibre is likely to form a key element in US government plans to boost broadband access.

Politicians this week advanced an infrastructure bill proposing funding of up to $65 billion for broadband deployments as part of a broader $1 trillion pot.

The bill does not specify which technologies providers can use to offer broadband, though wireless options are likely to qualify for funding in some scenarios.