T-Mobile just announced its plans for a true nationwide 5G network, not long after AT&T announced that it would roll out its 5G Evolution Network to 20 U.S. cities by the end of this year.
In particular, T-Mobile was sternly disparaging AT&T, with CEO John Legere calling its 5G Evolution "bull****" in a vlog published on Tuesday, May 2. T-Mobile emphasized that its 5G network will leverage its newly purchased 600 MHz spectrum. It will be used in servicing both LTE and 5G networks nationwide.
T-Mobile's 'True 5G' Plans
The company notes that it's the first carrier to commit to establishing a "real" nationwide 5G, and not "fake 5G," in reference to AT&T's 5G Evolution network. Many publications have criticized AT&T for proliferating bogus claims, and T-Mobile presumably took the opportunity to join the plight of shade-throwing.
In addition to the 600 MHz band, T-Mobile also has a 200 MHz band of spectrum in the 28/39 GHz bands that covers nearly 100 million customers in major cities, the company explains. These, along with the company's volume of mid-band spectrum will all be used to deploy 5G, one which offers both "breadth and depth nationwide," as T-Mobile explains.
"We expect to see a whole class of new applications and solutions that will be built for nationwide 5G, and today's applications will just work better and faster," says the company in a blog post.
When Will T-Mobile Roll Out Its 5G Network?
T-Mobile says that it expects to roll the 5G network out in 2020 — and that's a full nationwide rollout. It's going to be a long haul, to be sure. 5G standards will need to be defined first, and chips that can support the network will need to be manufactured as well. OEMs, too, will need to start producing phones which can support the more taxing needs of a much faster network, with battery life a clear area of improvement.
The Allure Of 5G
However T-Mobile plans to get there, it stands as the company to get there first. 5G is a pretty mountainous topic of late, and if you aren't careful, you might get lost in the steep pile-on of buzzwords meant to confuse your understanding of what true 5G connectivity actually is.
No one can actually explain 5G in definite terms quite yet, since standards need to be set, as mentioned above. But in a nutshell, such a network is poised to be better at managing this era's ballooning demand for video-streaming services, cloud-based storage and access, and more.
T-Mobile's competitors, however, aren't too pleased. Verizon, for instance, criticized the company's plans, calling it a public relations stunt.
"Rather than compete by doing, some prefer to compete with tweets and PR," said Verizon.
Well, then T-Mobile has until 2020 to prove that this wasn't just a big marketing ploy to lure consumers into the allure of 5G.
Check out the video below to hear Legere's ideas on things that could be possible with a true 5G network.
