Tuesday, 2 May 2017

T-Mobile takes aim at AT&T, Verizon as it commits to nationwide 5G by 2020

Another major carrier is penning plans to move to 5G as T-Mobile announces its plans to roll out nationwide 5G coverage by 2019 and complete its goals by 2020.

T-Mobile's plans come as a result of acquiring a large portion of low-band 600 MHz spectrum from the FCC for the lofty price of $8 billion, allowing the magenta-tinted carrier to pursue a coast-to-coast 5G mobile network.

Earlier this month, competitors Verizon and AT&T have made moves to suggest 5G coverage is just around the corner, with Verizon currently testing 5G networks and AT&T begging to offer "5G Evolution" service to customers in select regions that is said to be faster than LTE, but isn't actually 5G.

Nationwide 5G vs Fixed 5G

In response, T-Mobile boasts that it's the first US wireless company to announce plans for "truly nationwide" 5G coverage. 

This claim stems from T-Mobile's assertion that Verizon and AT&T's in-development 5G setups rely on hotspots set up in specific cities, saying that customers will lose 5G service immediately upon leaving those hotspots.

"[Verizon and AT&T's] ambitious vision for Fixed 5G to replace home internet will never provide mobile 5G coverage," says T-Mobile CEO John Legere. "It makes no sense.” 

You can see more about T-Mobile's plans for 5G and not-so-kind words for its peers in the industry in this video blog starring none other than Mr. Legere. 

(We never thought we'd have to attach this disclaimer to official T-Mobile marketing material, but there's some potentially NSFW language:)

Though the 5G finish line is on the horizon, there's still a lot of work ahead for carriers and regulators alike to set up infrastructure and standards for the next generation of high-speed wireless data. 

To that end, T-Mobile's plans for rolling out 5G may still be years away, but the self-proclaimed "Un-carrier" at least has a plan — if not also lots of trash talk — at the ready.



from TechRadar: Phone and communications news http://www.techradar.com/news/t-mobile-takes-aim-at-att-verizon-as-it-commits-to-nationwide-5g-by-2020

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