5G is going to get noticeably better for AT&T users
T-Mobile might have the fastest and most widely available 5G network of them all, but Verizon and AT&T are rapidly catching up due to the availability of new spectrum.
Verizon customers are experiencing higher speeds now that the carrier is able to use the wireless airwaves that it had bought earlier. The company got access to new C-band frequencies after satellite company SES freed them up ahead of schedule. The FCC had given a deadline of December 2023 to satellite operators for the task but had also given them an incentive for finishing up earlier.
AT&T was the second biggest bidder for the C-band spectrum and the company told CNET that it also gained access to more spectrum for 5G after satellite providers completed another phase of C-band clearing. This means that the carrier now has more C-band spectrum for deployment and it has already put the new frequencies to use in 46 locations including Austin, Boston, Dallas, Miami, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Seattle. Users in these locations can now enjoy better speeds and improved capacity.
With satellite companies finished clearing the remaining C-band spectrum months ahead of the December 2023 deadline, we got early access to our full C-band spectrum holdings – doubling our available C-band spectrum for deployment. We've since re-tuned our previously deployed C-band in the original 46 locations, resulting in notable capacity and speed gains, and ultimately an enhanced customer experience with fast, reliable and consistent performance."
AT&T is now in possession of at least "100 megahertz of total mid-band spectrum in the contiguous United States and an average of 120 Mhz nationwide; that's bandwidth in every available city, 406 locations in all."
The company told Fierce Wireless that more markets will see better performance in the coming months.
In the coming months, markets like Denver and Atlanta will see performance improvements as we continue expanding the deployment of our entire licensed C-band spectrum – an average of 80 MHz or more by market. And because our deployed cell site equipment, such as radios, are capable of handling the full bandwidth spectrum load, once a software update is completed, customers will immediately experience a dramatic increase in bandwidth."
More bandwidth will theoretically allow AT&T to offer better speeds but the company hasn't mentioned any specifics. The carrier calls its C-band 5G "5G Plus" and claims that its mid-band 5G network covers more than 175 million people.
AT&T customers don't need to upgrade to a new or pricier plan to enjoy the faster 5G networks but the company hasn't said whether users will need to upgrade from older devices for better speeds.
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