As is usually the case when it comes to the roll out of new technologies, it will take a while before we start seeing it in more places. This was the case when LTE was initially rolled out where it took a while before it blanketed the entire US market. The same is expected for 5G, although AT&T is hoping that it will be faster as they aim for nationwide coverage by 2020.According to AT&T’s statement, “In early 2020, we expect to have a nationwide mobile 5G footprint using our lower band spectrum (sub-6 GHz). We’ll also continue offering 5G+ coverage over millimeter wave spectrum.” The carrier also talked about how the initial roll out of coverage back in 2018 was faster than a traditional cycle.
“To make standards-based mobile 5G a reality in 2018, we took what was typically an 18-month cycle from the time standards were finalized to launching and whittled it down to 6 months after the June standards were agreed upon by 3GPP. This accelerated timeline is giving us early learnings that will be implemented in our own 5G network and push the industry forward.”
That being said, AT&T has been catching some flack recently due to the changing of the icon on some smartphones to display “5G E”, which some claim are misleading as this isn’t actual “5G” and that the average consumer might not necessarily be able to understand the differences.