T-Mobile’s 5G network is active as of Monday and is available to over 200 million people and 5,000 cities and towns across over one million square miles in the U.S. The network’s prepaid service, Metro by T-Mobile will also have access to 5G connectivity starting December 6, solidifying it as the first budget service to power the next-generation connectivity.
In addition to announcing its 5G network, T-Mobile revealed the price and availability details for its next set of 5G smartphones, which include the Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ 5G and the OnePlus 7T Pro 5G McLaren. The devices will be available for T-Mobile’s 5G network starting December 6, selling for $1,299.99 and $899.99 respectively. The carrier is expected to release at least 15 other 5G devices in 2020.
For now, T-Mobile’s 5G services costs are the same as its 4G costs, with users being able to simply transfer their current SIM cards to a 5G enabled device.
T-Mobile has introduced its 600MHz “low-band” 5G spectrum to propel its rollout. Having first introduced its 5G plans with different technology, called millimeter-wave to six cities in June, T-Mobile is now stepping back from the standard for a while. Overall, “low-band” 5G has a wider range to give access to more users, but download and upload speeds may be slower than what is expected for 5G. One of T-Mobile’s primary aims is first getting the service to customers, especially those in more rural areas.
As a long term plan, the carrier will likely combine its low-band 5G with millimeter-wave and spectrum it expects to gain from its impending merger with Sprint to strengthen the speed and bandwidth of its 5G network. Sprint uses 2.5GHz mid-band 5G for its networks, which is available in cities, including Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, Dallas, Kansas City, Phoenix, Washington D.C., and Chicago.
T-Mobile previously launched the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G as its first smartphone supporting the new network standard; however, that device supports millimeter-wave rather than low-band 5G. It’s newer 5G smartphones, in turn, support only low-band rather than millimeter-wave. However, upcoming smartphones may release supporting all three standards.
