Another major carrier is penning plans to move to 5G as T-Mobile has announced its plans to roll out nationwide 5G coverage by 2019 and complete the network by 2020.
T-Mobile's plans come as a result of acquiring a large portion of low-band 600 MHz spectrum from the Federal Communications Commission 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 made moves to suggest 5G coverage is just around the corner, with Verizon currently testing 5G networks and AT&T begging to offer a "5G Evolution" service to customers in select regions that it claims is faster than LTE, but isn't actually 5G.
Nationwide 5G vs Fixed 5G
In response to its rivals moves, T-Mobile boasted 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 in set up in specific cities, saying that customers will lose 5G service immediately upon leaving those locales.
"[Verizon and AT&T's] ambitious vision for Fixed 5G to replace home internet will never provide mobile 5G coverage," said T-Mobile CEO John Legere. "It makes no sense.”
You can see more on 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.
