AT&T made headlines nearly a year ago with the release of 5G Evolution (5GE), a fancy marketing term designed to help it beat its competitors in the rush to 5G. As Tom’s Guide’s investigation and testing showed, 5GE was nothing more than a slightly upgraded version of 4G LTE. Verizon and T-Mobile had the same tech for years, referring to it by the far less deceptive name “LTE Advanced.” In fact, OpenSignal’s testing showed AT&T’s 5GE was actually slower than either Verizon or T-Mobile.
Now, roughly a year after 5GE, AT&T has turned on its true 5G network for consumers in 10 markets. Like T-Mobile’s nationwide 5G network that went live earlier this month, AT&T’s 5G network uses low-band spectrum rather than the fast millimeter wave (mmWave) variety. This means that speeds will be slower, although range and building penetration will be better.
According to the company’s announcement, “millions of consumers and businesses across Birmingham, Ala., Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Providence, R.I., Rochester, N.Y., San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose, Calif. market areas can now access AT&T’s 5G network using the Samsung Galaxy Note10+ 5G.”
“We believe 5G technology will be game-changing, and we continue to help drive this next wave of innovation,” said Scott Mair, President of AT&T Technology Operations. “We were the first in the U.S. to offer commercial mobile 5G, and this is the next step as we build to nationwide service in the first half of 2020.”
