AT&T is finally ready to unveil its 5G network to its consumers. From next month onwards, the carrier will begin selling the Galaxy S10 Plus 5G for $1,300, and customers with selected unlimited plans will be able to connect to AT&T’s 5G network.
For starters, 5G for consumers will be available in only five cities: Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Providence, Rochester, and San Diego. An additional 10 cities, including Boston, New York, and San Francisco, are listed as coming soon. AT&T is planning to have nationwide coverage within the first half of 2020.
However, at launch, you won’t be able to enjoy the fastest type of 5G connections. Instead of using millimeter wave (mmWave), which uses faster airwaves to deliver much faster data speeds, AT&T will only offer “low-band” 5G, which uses newer technology to bundle together LTE-like spectrum into a much faster connection.
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AT&T personals made a statement that 5G speeds are expected to be comparable to speeds of LTE-Advanced at launch. LTE-Advanced being a speedier version of 4G and the most common carrier its speed will be “rapidly evolving from there,” according to a spokesperson.
In order to get 5G, customers will have to subscribe to either AT&T’s Unlimited Extra or Unlimited Elite plans. The company is making statements that it will be offering those services at no additional charges whatsoever. 5G data will count toward the unlimited plans’ throttling caps exactly the same way all other data does.
This launch will make AT&T the fourth of the major carriers to begin offering 5G to consumers globally. Verizon who launched in a limited capacity in April earlier this year has expanded its territory to 18 cities. T-Mobile has launched mmWave in a handful of cities, with nationwide low-band coverage promised to come next month. And Sprint, on the other hand, is known to be expanding cities and devices throughout the year as well.
AT&T’s 5G launch has three different brands for 5G. There is:
5GE: Fake 5G, just upgraded version of LTE
5G: Actual 5G, but without mmWave
5G+: mmWave 5G
5G with mmWave was rolled out in 2018 by AT&T the company launched a hotspot that was only available to selected business customers and that only supported mmWave 5G. AT&T has continued to expand where mmWave 5G is available, which is also the reason why it has launched the mmWave-compatible Galaxy S10 5G for businesses and developers. Today’s announcement has made things clear that in just a matter of time 5G will be available on AT&T, not only that but any type of 5G that customers want to choose.
AT&T’s mmWave network is available in 21 cities, more specifically; some parts of those cities. But no longer, because the carrier has plans to expand to 30 cities in early 2020. However, It will open and available to consumers at “a later date.” It’s important to note though, it will not be accessible on Galaxy S10 Plus 5G, because the phone does not support mmWave.
