We expect that just as it was the case with 4G coverage, it will probably take carriers some time to roll out nationwide coverage of 5G. In fact carriers such as Sprint have recently announced that they plan to build 5G infrastructure in six cities this year, which by no means is a lot, but we suppose it’s a start.However it looks like T-Mobile wants to beat them all as the carrier has recently announced their plans to roll out 5G coverage in as many as 30 cities by the end of 2018. This was revealed by T-Mobile’s CEO John Legere during MWC 2018 in which he also poked fun of carriers such as AT&T and Verizon, both of whom are planning 5G coverage through puck-shaped hotspot devices.
The CEO certainly did not hold back as he was quoted as saying, “Dumb and Dumber are in a meaningless race to be first. Their so-called 5G isn’t mobile, and it’s not even on a smartphone. It’s a puck?! You gotta be pucking kidding me! While the Duopoly focus on bragging rights, we focus on customers. T-Mobile has massively bigger plans for a truly transformative 5G experience on your smartphone nationwide. We’re playing the long game … the only game that matters.”
That being said, it should be noted that given the lack of 5G compatible smartphones right now, having wide coverage probably won’t matter as much since no one will be able to take advantage of it. We suppose the only upside is that when 5G phones are launched, T-Mobile’s wider coverage could give them an advantage, assuming other carriers haven’t already rolled out their own 5G networks by then.