T-Mobile continues to build out its 2.5GHz mid-band 5G network
T-Mobile started to build a 5G game plan that even Sara Lee would have liked. The low-band 600MHz spectrum would provide a base from which T-Mobile would create a triple layer cake of 5G service. The bottom layer would consist of the 600MHz spectrum that travels farther and penetrates structures better. The one drawback is that data speed would be slower. So while the T-Mobile executives could see the possibility of it launching the first nationwide 5G network, it also wanted to solve the speed issue by adding mid-range spectrum. Even though such airwaves are hard to find in the states, it turned out that Sprint had a hoard of 2.5GHz airwaves which became the impetus to get the merger done. T-Mobile would use its low-band signals to give its 5G network a nationwide footprint. The 2.5GHz mid-band spectrum would surface in rural areas and help raise download data speeds. The extremely fast but short-distanced mmWave signals would be used in urban markets.
Neville Ray, President of Technology at T-Mobile, said today, “T-Mobile has the competition in the rear-view mirror on 5G, and they’re only getting farther behind. While the other guys are playing catch-up, we’ve had nationwide 5G since last year, and we’re now adding faster speeds across the country with mid-band 5G. This is our 5G strategy in action. Mid-band is the 5G spectrum, and T-Mobile has more of it than anyone. We have nearly twice as much low and mid-band spectrum as AT&T and nearly triple that of Verizon. And that means T-Mobile is the only one capable of making the world’s best 5G network a reality.”
