AT&T continues to flip flop as it shortens its list of phones that will support its 3.45GHz- mid-band spectrum
In January, right after the auction, Chris Sambar, AT&T’s executive vice president of technology operations, told CNET that it would add 3.45GHz support on “the major flagship devices in 2022, the big devices from the big OEMs.” Last month, AT&T announced that it would offer 3.45GHz connectivity on older phones including the iPhone 12 series, the iPhone 13 models, the Pixel 6 line, the Galaxy S21 series, and some decidedly non-flagship phones such as certain low-cost devices from Motorola.
The iPhone 13 series is no longer expected to receive support for AT&T’s 3.45GHz 5G spectrum
While AT&T originally felt that it would be able to add 3.45GHz mid-band support to more than 30 existing phones, it has since told CNET that it is more likely that instead, 11 newer devices will get this support. AT&T’s Jim Greer, assistant vice president of corporate communications, explained the mistake by saying that it was “an inaccurate list… provided by mistake and then incorrectly confirmed during the fact-checking” of the article published by CNET.
- Samsung Galaxy S22.
- Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus.
- Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra.
- Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4.
- Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4.
- Apple iPhone 14.
- Apple iPhone 14 Plus.
- Apple iPhone 14 Pro.
- Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max.
- Netgear Nighthawk M6 hotspot.
- Netgear Nighthawk M6 Pro hotspot.
Even if your 5G AT&T phone is not on the list, it still will be able to connect to AT&T’s 5G signals including the C-band. Devices not on the list just won’t be able to benefit from the wireless provider’s use of the C-band and 3.45GHz mid-band signals together to improve its 5G connectivity. AT&T’s Sambar previously told CNET that while not every cell site will have access to both C-band and 3.45GHz airwaves, the majority will.
AT&T and Verizon got off the blocks slowly when the 5G race started in the U.S.
AT&T might have just been mistaken about the hardware inside its phones, or wrong about the capabilities of these devices. Or it just could have been a decision made by the nation’s third-largest wireless carrier to stop work on developing software updates to allow older handsets to support the 3.45GHz spectrum. It’s hard to say exactly what AT&T was trying to accomplish here.
