T-Mobile US promises nationwide 5G before Christmas

T-Mobile US has made the very bold statement that it will switch on a nationwide 5G network on December 6.

With the 5G race heating up, the industry should be prepared to tolerate some interesting statements and might well have to swallow some considerable exaggerations. This certainly has the potential to be an example.

“We’re building a 5G network that will allow us to deliver future New T-Mobile moves that are going to be so massive we couldn’t wait to share the first few,” said CEO John Legere.

“We have definitively put a stake in the ground around the kind of company the supercharged Un-carrier will be and the ways we can put this radically better 5G network to work doing goof for this country — good for consumers, good for competition and good for innovation.

“Only the New T-Mobile’s transformative 5G network will finally have the capacity and reach to make the bold moves we announced today that are squarely aimed at solving inequities that have huge impacts on our society. When it comes to wireless service, many have been taken advantage of, left behind or completely forgotten. It’s time for another wave of change and the New T-Mobile will be at the forefront of that.”

Legere certainly has precedent in making wild claims, though in fairness, he does usually deliver. After all, this is the man which led the T-Mobile US business out of the shadows of irrelevance to a position where it is challenge the dominance of AT&T and Verizon.

However, you have to take such claims with a pinch of salt. The network will make use of the 600 MHz spectrum hording at T-Mobile US, allowing it to reach 200 million people with extended range, however there will be a compromise on speed. This spectrum will not deliver the eye-watering download speeds which have been promised in the 5G era.

This might be 5G, but not the 5G which many have been talking about. The spectrum in question was purchased in 2017, when T-Mobile US paid $7.9 billion for 1,525 regional 600 MHz licences. The assets are already powering the ‘Extended Range’ LTE service for the telco across 2,700 locations.

In conjunction with the launch of the 600 MHz powered 5G network, T-Mobile US is also making use of the mmWave airwaves in strategic locations. This spectrum will deliver the vastly superior download speeds, though with the 600 MHz spectrum aided to the mix, at least customers will be able to see the 5G logo on their screen more often.