T-Mobile just flipped the switch on nationwide 5G ahead of schedule
T-Mobile’s nationwide 5G network is now live. The company has just flipped the switch on its network, flighting up 5G on its 600 MHz “low-band” network. With this rollout, T-Mobile is providing 5G coverage for more than one million square miles which will allow more than 200 million people in rural and metro areas across the U.S. to access the company’s new 5G network.
While T-Mobile’s network is now up and running, no one will be able to use it yet. On December 6th, T-Mobile customers will be able to buy the OnePlus 7T Pro 5G McLaren ($899.99) and the Samsung Galaxy Note10+ 5G ($1,299.99) which are the first two smartphones compatible with T-Mobile’s 600 Mhz 5G network. T-Mobile plans to launch an additional 15 smartphones compatible with its 5G network in 2020.
T-Mobile CEO, John Legere was also kind enough to share some choice words regarding the 5G deployments T-Mobile’s competitors are currently offering:
“While Dumb and Dumber focus on 5G for the (wealthy) Few, launching in just a handful of cities — and forcing customers into their most expensive plans to get 5G — we’re committed to building broad, deep nationwide 5G that people and businesses can access at no extra cost with the New T-Mobile … and today is just the start of that journey,” said T-Mobile CEO John Legere.
Unfrotaunteyl, T-Mobile’s new nationwide 5G network doesn’t come with the same speed improvements that we’ve seen from AT&T and Verizon’s mmWave deployments. In fact, quite a few areas within T-Mobile’s 5G network will be getting the same speeds as current 4G networks provide. And since T-Mobile isn’t planning to compete on speed with its 600 MHz “low-band” network deployment, it hasn’t revealed how fast its 5G network is expected to be.
The good news is that T-Mobile is planning a second wave of nationwide 5G deployment with Sprint’s 2.5 GHz 5G spectrum once the merger between the two companies finally goes through. The 2.5 GHz spectrum that Sprint brings to the table is much better suites for faster 5G speeds and should offer a significant improvement over the speeds T-Mobile currently offers. T-Mobile hasn’t announced how quickly it will be able to deliver 5G over 2.5 GHz, but it should be a lot quicker than the mmWave deployments that Verizon has been working hard on since last year.
Source: T-Mobile