T-Mobile continued to expand throughout 2020, partnering with some regional carriers, like it did with GCI to piggyback off its network to give T-Mobile customers 5G access in Anchorage, Alaska, in June.
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This launch, the company claims, activated coverage across 1 million square miles of US area to reach 60% of Americans.īy June 2020, T-Mobile's 5G smartphone lineup included all three Samsung Galaxy S20 phones (including the S20 Plus and S20 Ultra), the LG V60 ThinQ, and the OnePlus 8 5G. That was all in preparation for a sweeping nationwide 5G launch event at the lower 600Mhz frequencies in December 2019. The only phone that could harness 5G at the time was, unsurprisingly, the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G. So T-Mobile's mmWave coverage went live in New York City, Los Angeles, Dallas, and Las Vegas in June 2019 with plans to reach a total of 30 cities by year's end. While T-Mobile also uses some 28Ghz mmWave frequencies, T-Mobile 5G's broader expansion also includes sub-600Mhz frequencies that reach much farther to provide for suburban and rural communities but deliver lower speeds. T-Mobile went for a different strategy, especially since the company spent much of 2019 in eventually successful negotiations to merge with rival telecom Sprint. Those speeds are expected to increase, as are coverage areas: check Verizon's coverage maps to see which parts of your city should offer 5G connectivity.
We experienced this patchiness firsthand and had to move around the city's various 5G masts to get this top speed, though we managed to get around 1Gbps quite consistently. However, Verizon's 5G coverage is patchy given its use of the ultra-high-speed but low-area mmWave tech – specifically in the 28Ghz and 39Ghz spectrums - so it's more accurate to say it's live in neighborhoods and areas within those cities – at least for now. In Chicago, US we've managed to obtain speeds of up to 1.4Gbps, which is massively faster than 4G's theoretical top speed of 300Mbps (although average 4G speeds tend to be below 100Mbps). It's planning even more throughout 2020, unsurprisingly, even in the face of the pandemic. Verizon surprised most of the world by launching its 5G Home network in late 2018, followed by its 5G mobile network at the start of April 2019, making it the first globally to offer the next-generation network.īy the end of 2019, Verizon 5G had gone live in parts of 31 cities, starting with Chicago and reaching Los Angeles, New York City, Atlanta, Dallas, and filtering to smaller cities like Memphis, Columbus, and Grand Rapids.Īt the time of writing (June 2020), it offers 5G in 35 locations, adding Little Rock, AR, Kansas City, MO and Cincinnati, OH in January, and then San Diego in May. That's increasing with each month though as each carrier expands its offering.
The main four carriers in the US now offer 5G connectivity, but where you can get a signal is still limited. Coverage is still limited around the US, UK and Australia. Remember: just because you have a 5G phone and a 5G-ready plan doesn't mean you'll immediately get the next-gen connectivity tech. 5G is available in many countries around the world, and below we'll run you through the exact situation for those in the US, UK and Australia.