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Tag: T-Mobile

  • T-Mobile Data Breach Exposes 200,000 Customers’ Data

    T-Mobile Data Breach Exposes 200,000 Customers’ Data

    T-Mobile has suffered a major data breach, impacting some 200,000 customers.

    Wireless carriers are prime cybersecurity targets, thanks to the wealth of customer data they have access to. According to T-Mobile’s disclosure, its cybersecurity team discovered unauthorized, malicious access to some of that customer information.

    Fortunately, “the data accessed did not include names on the account, physical or email addresses, financial data, credit card information, social security numbers, tax ID, passwords, or PINs.” The hackers may have accessed “phone number, number of lines subscribed to on your account and, in some cases, call-related information collected as part of the normal operation of your wireless service.”

    The company is working with law enforcement agencies and has begun notifying those customers affected.

    This is the third major breach T-Mobile has suffered, and the second of 2020. Especially with T-Mobile’s newfound status as the second-largest carrier, it will need to do more to keep its customers’ data safe.

  • AT&T Getting Serious About Selling DirecTV, Fielding Offers

    AT&T Getting Serious About Selling DirecTV, Fielding Offers

    AT&T is reportedly fielding offers to sell its DirecTV satellite service, as the service shrinks due to the rise of streaming options.

    AT&T bought DirecTV in 2015 for $66 billion, including debt. Since that time, however, the service has lost millions of subscribers — far more than rival Dish Network — and has increasingly become a lead weight around AT&T’s neck.

    According to the Wall Street Journal, AT&T is fielding bids in excess of $15 billion, including debt, a far cry from what the company paid five years ago. Among the potential buyers are Churchill Capital Corp. IV and private-equity firm TPG. The WSJ says the auction is already in the late stages, with a completed deal possible in early 2021.

    The TV industry has become one of the most hated industries in America in recent years, in terms of customer satisfaction. Many companies charge equipment rental fees, hidden fees and regularly hike prices after brief “introductory prices.”

    While satellite TV often scores higher in customer satisfaction than cable options, it has still been heavily impacted by streaming services. Hulu with Live TV, YouTube TV, fuboTV, Sling and, most recently, T-Mobile’s TVision are often seen as cheaper alternatives that give customers more options and control. When TVision was released, T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert specifically emphasized no annual contracts, no exploding plans and half the cost of cable.

    AT&T’s divesture of DirecTV is just the latest example of this widespread digital transformation that is occurring.

  • T-Mobile TVision Giving Customers 30+ Free Channels

    T-Mobile TVision Giving Customers 30+ Free Channels

    T-Mobile informed TVision subscribers they will be receiving 30+ channels, normally part of the Vibe plan, for free.

    At the end of October, T-Mobile unveiled its TVision streaming service, designed to compete with the likes of YouTube TV, Hulu with Live TV, Sling and fuboTV. The company unveiled four packages, including Vibe, Live TV, Live TV+ and Live Zone.

    The Vibe plan, in particular, was seen as a high-value option, providing 30+ entertainment and lifestyle channels for just $10. It was a good option for customers who were not interested in local channels or sports. Now, T-Mobile is giving away the Vibe plan for free to customers that have one of the TVision Live subscriptions.

    T-Mobile Free Channels Email
    T-Mobile Free Channels Email

    Behind the scenes, industry experts say the promotion is a result of the legal issues and carriage disputes T-Mobile is facing over TVision. Despite the cable TV industry being one of the most hated industries in America, media companies continue to hold to the very business practices that made them so hated.

    One of those practices is channel stuffing, requiring certain packages to contain certain channels, and then forcing customers to pay for channels they don’t want. T-Mobile’s willingness to separate their channel lineup in a way that allowed customers to choose what they wanted to pay for was one of its big selling points.

    According to Variety, however, T-Mobile has had to make adjustments to prevent legal action from the media companies. For example, many media companies specify that any of their channels included in a cheaper tier must also be included in more expensive tiers. While T-Mobile viewed their Vibe plan as a standalone option, the media companies are clearly viewing it as the entry-level tier. As a result, because it has channels not included in any TVision Live plans, the media companies are crying foul.

    To T-Mobile’s credit—in the same week that Hulu and DirecTV announced price hikes—the company’s solution is simply to include the 30+ Vibe channels for free in the more expensive TVision Live plans. While the company has portrayed it as a limited-time holiday event, given its Un-carrier reputation, it’s hard to imagine T-Mobile will do anything that will be a burden to customers on the other side of its holiday deal.

    From the outset, CEO Mike Sievert characterized TVision as a loss-leader to help drive more customers to its cellular and home internet options. Hopefully the company’s holiday deal will become a permanent option, or replaced by some equally value-driven option.

  • Hulu Raising the Price of Hulu + Live TV

    Hulu Raising the Price of Hulu + Live TV

    Hulu is once again raising prices on its Hulu + Live TV streaming service, the latest price increase among streaming services.

    As more Americans cut the cord, streaming services are the obvious choice for a replacement. Unfortunately, streaming services have increasingly started to look like the very cable TV packages they were designed to replace—bloated and expensive, with regular price hikes.

    Hulu is the latest, raising the cost of its Hulu + Live TV service to $64.99 from the current $54.99. Customers wanting to eliminate ads, for the on-demand content, will have to fork over $70.99 a month, up from the current $60.99. The increase is set to go into effect on December 18.

    At the end of June, YouTube TV raised its price from $50 to $64.99. Around the same time, fuboTV raised the price of its Family plan to $64.99 when it struck a deal to carry Disney’s lineup. Although the company technically still offers its $59.99 Standard plan, it is buried on the company’s website, as fuboTV is clearly promoting the Family plan instead.

    Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV and fuboTV are increasingly being seen as the most full-featured cable TV replacements available. All three offer competitive channel lineups, digital DVRs and other features, but Hulu has been the most competitively priced one of the three, giving it a significant advantage. With its price increase, however, Hulu is giving up that advantage.

    In late October, T-Mobile unveiled its take on streaming TV, TVision. TVision live TV plans start at just $40 per month for T-Mobile customers, although it may be more for non-T-Mobile customers. One of the advertised selling points of TVision’s service is “no exploding plans.” If the company continues to offer its service for a cheaper price, and not raise that price, it may suddenly become the streaming service to beat.

  • Dish Network Utilizing Qualcomm For Its 5G Rollout

    Dish Network Utilizing Qualcomm For Its 5G Rollout

    Dish Network has announced it is using Qualcomm to help roll out its 5G network.

    Dish is moving ahead at warp speed to roll out a 5G network to compete with the three big carriers. The company received a big boost thanks to the T-Mobile/Sprint merger. In order to receive approval for their merger, the two companies had to sell some of their spectrum, as well as Sprint’s Boost Mobile, to Dish.

    Dish has been lining up deals with the major network equipment providers as it works on building the first O-RAN compliant 5G network. O-RAN (open-radio access network) is a specification that enables carriers to use components from multiple vendors, thanks to a common set of defined interfaces.

    In its latest move, Dish has tapped Qualcomm’s 5G RAN platform.

    “By further expanding its portfolio of 5G infrastructure solutions to include O-RAN specifications that are compliant with DISH’s open architecture and implementation, Qualcomm Technologies will enable greater flexibility in the deployment of our 5G vRAN equipment. With this move, Qualcomm Technologies will also enrich a diverse ecosystem of RAN applications by delivering data insights natively through the future chipset family. These insights are the foundation of our data-centric and fully-automated network architecture. We are pleased to see Qualcomm Technologies embracing O-RAN and virtualization, creating even more possibilities for the future of 5G across the industry,” said Marc Rouanne, DISH executive vice president and chief network officer.

    “We are excited about working with DISH to accelerate their strategy to bring flexible, scalable, and interoperable 5G deployments to a more competitive North American market. With our vast 5G portfolio, from smartphone to infrastructure, we are committed to supporting DISH’s network vendors and device partners to bring new capabilities to life, with standalone 5G and Vo5G across all DISH spectrum bands,” said Durga Malladi, senior vice president and general manager, 4G/5G, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.

    Thanks to its adoption of O-RAN, Dish stands poised to build out a 5G network in record time. The move will help Dish diversify its business at a time when customers are dropping cable and satellite in favor of streaming options.

  • T-Mobile Releases Quarterly Results, Crosses 100 Million Customers

    T-Mobile Releases Quarterly Results, Crosses 100 Million Customers

    T-Mobile has released its third-quarter results, and has turned in record-breaking numbers.

    T-Mobile reported total revenue of $19.3 billion, with net earnings of $1.3 billion or $1.00 earnings per share. This was was substantially better than analyst consensus of $0.43 per share on $18.34 billion in revenue.

    The company also added 2,035,000 new customers, including 1,979,000 postpaid net additions and 689,000 postpaid phone net additions, all representing best-in-industry results.

    The company ended the third-quarter with a record number 100.4 million total customers.

    “Last quarter T-Mobile overtook AT&T to become #2 in U.S. wireless and today we announced our highest ever postpaid net adds. Now, with over 100 million wireless customers and America’s largest 5G network, there is no doubt that we’re the growth leader in wireless,” said Mike Sievert, T-Mobile CEO. “Customers are choosing T-Mobile in record numbers because we are the only ones that can deliver this combination of value and experience with a true 5G network that is available to customers in every single state! We’re consistently and profitably outpacing the competition – and we’re just getting started!”

  • T-Mobile Inherits Sprint’s Spectrum…And Its Fines

    T-Mobile Inherits Sprint’s Spectrum…And Its Fines

    T-Mobile and the Federal Communications Commission have reached a $200 million agreement over Sprint’s Lifeline abuses.

    T-Mobile merged with Sprint and quickly rose to the second-largest carrier in the US. One of T-Mobile’s biggest motivations for the merger was to gain access to Sprint’s wealth of mid-band spectrum, ideal for 5G deployment. It appears T-Mobile also got stuck with Sprint’s legal issues as well.

    An Enforcement Bureau investigation determined that Sprint “was claiming monthly subsidies for serving approximately 885,000 Lifeline subscribers even though those subscribers were not using the service, in potential violation of the Commission’s ‘non-usage’ rule.” Lifeline is a program designed to help low-income families afford phone and broadband service.

    Sprint had previously agreed to pay $200 million and enter a compliance program to ensure there were no future issues.

    “Lifeline is key to our commitment to bringing digital opportunity to low-income Americans, and it is especially critical that we make the best use of taxpayer dollars for this vital program,” said Chairman Ajit Pai. “I’m pleased that we were able to resolve this investigation in a manner that sends a strong message about the importance of complying with rules designed to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse in the Lifeline program. In addition to the great work of our Enforcement Bureau team, I would like to thank the Oregon Public Utility Commission for its efforts in this case. States play an important role in helping low-income consumers get access to affordable communications through Lifeline and making sure the program is run efficiently.”

  • Dish Network and Intel Partner On 5G Rollout

    Dish Network and Intel Partner On 5G Rollout

    Dish Network has selected Intel for its 5G rollout, as the satellite company works to be the fourth nationwide carrier.

    As part of T-Mobile’s purchase of Sprint, the magenta carrier sold portions of its spectrum to Dish. T-Mobile also agreed to allow Dish to piggyback off of its network for several years. The government’s goal in requiring these concessions was to help create a viable nationwide carrier to help fill the void left by the T-Mobile/Sprint merger.

    Dish has been moving full-speed-ahead in its efforts to roll out its network, enlisting Nokia to provide the necessary software and now partnering with Intel to use its 5G infrastructure technology. Dish is attempting to create the nation’s first virtualized, O-RAN (open-radio access network), 5G network. O-RAN enables carriers to use equipment and hardware from multiple vendors, marrying the various components together using a set of defined interfaces.

    “Fully virtualized, cloud-native networks, like the one DISH is building, bring the same server economics that transformed the datacenter,” said Dan Rodriguez, corporate vice president and general manager of Intel’s Network Platforms Group. “We are excited to partner with DISH to lay the foundation for a truly agile network and have already begun working with our OEM partners who have designed FlexRAN-based servers to enable a variety of new innovative use cases and services.”

    As part of the partnership, the two companies are also working together to further the O-RAN standard.

  • T-Mobile Doubles Mid-Band 5G Coverage, Will Cover 100 Million By Year’s End

    T-Mobile Doubles Mid-Band 5G Coverage, Will Cover 100 Million By Year’s End

    T-Mobile has doubled the extent of its mid-band 5G coverage in just a month, with plans to provide coverage to 100 million by year’s end.

    Mid-band 5G is considered the sweet spot by many experts, providing the range and coverage needed for optimal use. T-Mobile achieved gigabit speed with its mid-band 5G in May. While high-band mmWave is often associated with gigabit speeds, it’s hampered by notoriously short range and even worse building penetration.

    “When it comes to real-world 5G, the only way to get the kind of performance benefits we’ve been promised is through the critical mid-band spectrum,” noted Bob O’Donnell, President of TECHnalysis Research. “Sure, mmWave can be fast, but it’s nearly impossible to find, while low-band 5G is easy to find, but offers smaller improvement over existing LTE. With the 2.5 GHz spectrum being lit up by T-Mobile, however, you get the sweet spot of noticeably improved performance in a respectable coverage area. That’s the kind of 5G benefit that consumers are going to notice and appreciate.”

    Thanks to T-Mobile’s Sprint acquisition, it has more mid-band spectrum than any US carriers, putting it in an excellent position to deliver on its promise.

    “Mid-band is the only way to deliver super-fast 5G speeds that can reach for miles. And here’s the secret AT&T and Verizon don’t want you to know: T-Mobile is the only one with big swaths of mid-band dedicated to 5G. T-Mobile has more mid-band spectrum than anyone else,” said Neville Ray, President of Technology at T-Mobile. “We’re the only ones building a transformational 5G network built on dedicated — not shared — airwaves. And that means only T-Mobile is capable of making the world’s best 5G network a reality.”

    Today’s announcement is good news for T-Mobile subscribers.

  • FCC Established 5G Fund for Rural America to Speed 5G Deployment

    FCC Established 5G Fund for Rural America to Speed 5G Deployment

    The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has established the 5G Fund for Rural America in a bid to close the digital divide.

    Because of the sprawling nature of the US and its large geographic footprint, there is a long-recognized digital divide between urban areas and rural communities. While urban areas and cities often have access to multiple types of high-speed broadband, rural communities have few—or in some cases no—choices available.

    The FCC is working to close that divide with a $9 billion fund aimed at improving 5G access.

    The Federal Communications Commission today adopted rules creating the 5G Fund for Rural America, which will distribute up to $9 billion over the next decade to bring 5G wireless broadband connectivity to rural America. 5G represents the latest advance in mobile wireless technology, promising increased speeds, reduced latency, and better security than 4G LTE networks.

    Carriers, especially T-Mobile and Verizon, have been deploying 5G home broadband in an effort to help cover these areas. T-Mobile, in particular, rapidly expanded its home 5G internet in the wake of AT&T’s announcement it was phasing out its DSL service, a move likely to widen the digital divide even more.

  • T-Mobile Takes On Streaming TV With TVision

    T-Mobile Takes On Streaming TV With TVision

    At its latest Un-carrier event, T-Mobile has unveiled TVision, its take on streaming and live TV.

    Streaming TV services have been gaining in popularity as customers ditch cable and satellite services in record numbers, weary of their business practices. Many companies lure customers with introductory pricing that dramatically increases after the first year, while others charge “rental fees” for equipment.

    T-Mobile is setting out to change the status quo, much as they did for the wireless industry, with its TVision service.

    “People are ready for real choice and real change in home TV, maybe this year more than ever before. That’s exactly what TVision delivers… all at prices you’ll love. You can cut the cord for as little as ten dollars a month with TVision VIBE. Or if you want live news and sports, you can get it starting at just forty dollars a month with TVision LIVE. That’s TVision, and THAT is TV done right!” said Mike Sievert, CEO of T-Mobile. “The Cableopoly holds TV fans hostage, bundling live news and sports into expensive packages with hundreds of other channels that people don’t want, and don’t watch. Something’s gotta change. And that’s what the Un-carrier does best — force change. Just like we changed wireless for good — today we’re going to change TV for good!”

    TVision UI TV LIVE
    TVision UI TV LIVE

    The new service comes in several different packages, including TVision Live, TVision Vibe and TVision Channels.

    TVision Live offers live TV channels, including local networks. There are three Live options—Live TV, Live TV+ and Live Zone—ranging from $40 to $60/mo and offering 34 to 66 channels. TVision Live plans will offer up to three simultaneous streams, along with 100 hours of cloud DVR. As an added bonus, Live TV+ and Live Zone customers will receive a free Apple TV+ subscription for one full year.

    TVision Vibe is $10/mo and offers 34 lifestyle and entertainment channels. TVision Channels is designed to let customers pull together the a-la-carte streaming services they already use into one place.

    The company is also offering TVision Hub, an Android-powered HDMI streaming device. Customers can install their favorite TV apps on the device, using it much like an Apple TV.

    T-Mobile has been branching out, looking for opportunities to bring their customer-centric focus to other industries, such as their foray into banking with T-Mobile Money. Given the dissatisfaction with current TV options, it’s a safe bet T-Mobile will have another hit on their hands.

    The service will be available to T-Mobile subscribers beginning November 1, and to Sprint customers on November 13.

     

    https://youtu.be/I3Ivn7ijJGk

  • Verizon, Ericsson and Qualcomm Deliver 5 Gbps 5G

    Verizon, Ericsson and Qualcomm Deliver 5 Gbps 5G

    Verizon, Ericsson and Qualcomm have hit another major 5G milestone, delivering download speeds of 5 Gbps.

    Verizon has mainly been focusing on mmWave 5G, the fastest variety of 5G. It promises speeds in the gigabits, with latency in the single digits, or low double digits at most.

    Now, a week after announcing speeds of 4 Gbps, Verizon, Ericsson and Qualcomm have achieved 5 Gbps download speeds.

    “We have been driving the evolution of 5G technology from the early days and we continue to aggressively drive innovation — pushing the limits of the technology farther and faster for our customers,” said Brian Mecum, Vice President of Device Technology at Verizon. “This latest achievement is yet another milestone in providing a genuinely differentiated service for our customers on mmWave.”

    Verizon says that, when fully mature, its mmWave 5G will deliver speeds up to 10 Gbps, along with latency under 5 milliseconds.

    “Our strategy from the beginning has always been to reshape the world by driving innovation and leading the way in deploying the keenly differentiated 5G Ultra Wideband experience customers can only get from the mmWave based 5G network. It is the 21st century infrastructure that will shape the future,” said Mecum. “Today’s demonstration shows the advancements we are making to provide our customers with the mobile technology and capabilities they don’t even yet know they need.”

    The one issue Verizon still faces, however, is coverage. While it offers blazing speeds, mmWave has extremely short range and terrible building penetration. Verizon recently invested heavily in mid-band spectrum at the latest FCC auction. Prior to that, the company did not have enough mid-band spectrum to effectively compete with T-Mobile, especially since most experts consider mid-band spectrum to be the 5G sweet spot for both range and performance.

    Similarly, the company does not have enough low-band spectrum to roll out a dedicated, nationwide 5G network. Instead, it has had to rely on Dynamic Spectrum Switching (DSS) to share the spectrum used by its 4G LTE network. Unsurprisingly, early reviews report less-than-impressive performance.

    While Verizon’s 5G is the undisputed king of speed, it has a long way to go before it can effectively deliver that performance to the majority of its users.

  • T-Mobile Launches 5G Venture Capital Fund

    T-Mobile Launches 5G Venture Capital Fund

    T-Mobile has launched T-Mobile Ventures, a fund aimed at backing companies “developing transformative 5G products and services for the T-Mobile network.”

    Carriers around the country are rushing to roll out 5G networks, while businesses and customers are eager to take advantage of the benefits it offers. T-Mobile is one of the leading 5G providers, offing the full range of 5G: low-band, mid-band and mmWave.

    Because of the speeds 5G offers, it is opening up new opportunities in artificial intelligence, edge computing, cloud computing, machine learning and more. As a result, a new generation of companies are developing products and services that take advantage of 5G. T-Mobile Ventures’ goal is to help these companies succeed.

    “T-Mobile Ventures is part of our mission to give customers the best 5G network in the country – one that will serve all Americans, stimulate competition and create tremendous economic value,” said Jason Young, Senior Vice President of Partnerships and T-Mobile Ventures. “With our 5G network at the foundation, we see massive opportunity across both business and consumer segments, and we’re excited to help fuel the wave of 5G applications coming to market in the years ahead.”

  • T-Mobile: Verizon 5G Speeds About To Hit a Massive Speed Bump

    T-Mobile: Verizon 5G Speeds About To Hit a Massive Speed Bump

    T-Mobile President Neville Ray says that Verizon’s speeds on 5G and LTE are about to hit a massive speed bump. He adds, “You can’t enjoy 5G if you can’t get 5G.” Ouch!

    In a snarky blog post, T-Mobile says that new data released today from Ookla proves that T-Mobile customers get a 5G signal more often than anyone else. T-Mobile says that Verizon customers only connected to 5G a paltry 0.6% of the time. 

    “You can’t enjoy 5G if you can’t get 5G. I can’t believe I have to say this, but apparently, some providers think 5G you can’t find is perfectly OK. T-Mobile has America’s largest 5G network, and Ookla’s report shows T-Mobile customers get the benefits of 5G more often,” said Neville Ray, President of Technology at T-Mobile. “We’re building 5G for All on dedicated airwaves to deliver both coverage and speed … while Verizon and AT&T force 5G and LTE customers to share already-crowded bandwidth.”

    The Un-carrier’s 5G network is the largest by far, covering 260 million people in more than 7,500 cities and towns. And thanks to the merger with Sprint, T-Mobile is rolling out the best spectrum for 5G — mid-band 2.5 GHz 5G — across the country. It’s already live today in 210 cities and towns and will be in thousands of cities and towns by the end of the year. Where mid-band is deployed, it can deliver average download speeds around 300 Mbps — that’s 7.5x faster than our LTE today — with peak speeds up to 1 Gbps. Verizon’s “Ultra Wideband” can only deliver fast speeds outdoors on specific street corners near base stations. T-Mobile’s mid-band 5G is the sweet spot, it can give customers fast speeds across broad geographies.  

    T-Mobile has dedicated spectrum for 5G across low, mid and high bands. And that’s important because 5G devices will use a lot of capacity. Verizon and AT&T are stealing LTE spectrum from their existing customers to broaden their 5G coverage. Using Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS), Verizon and AT&T force 5G and LTE customers to share bandwidth, splitting up the capacity so each technology only gets part of it. DSS is an important network feature and should be used in limited scenarios — not to provide an entire nationwide footprint. So, what’s the problem with Verizon’s broad use of DSS? Well, they are already spectrum-constrained and have limited sub-6 GHz spectrum. And now, they’re forced to share that limited resource with their 5G customers too. More traffic, same roads – sounds like a slowdown ahead.

    “The physics are simple. When you force more devices to share crowded airwaves, speeds decrease. I predict Verizon’s speeds on 5G and LTE are about to hit a massive speed bump,” added Ray.

    “By contrast,” says Ray, T-Mobile is building 5G on free and clear dedicated spectrum in all bands with its “layer cake” multi-band strategy. With all three major bands dedicated to 5G, only T-Mobile has wide open freeways ready to take on massive amounts of 5G traffic. And with more low and mid-band spectrum than anyone else, T-Mobile is building an even wider and faster freeway.”

  • Verizon Launches Nationwide 5G Network, Early Reviewers Unimpressed

    Verizon Launches Nationwide 5G Network, Early Reviewers Unimpressed

    In combination with Apple’s 5G iPhone 12 launch, Verizon has announced the immediate availability of its nationwide 5G network.

    As US carriers have rolled out their 5G networks, Verizon has taken a much different approach than AT&T and T-Mobile. Until now, Verizon has largely focused on its high-band, mmWave 5G. AT&T and T-Mobile, while deploying mmWave of their own, were quick to roll out nationwide 5G networks using low-band spectrum. AT&T used its 850 MHz spectrum, while T-Mobile used 600 MHz.

    While low-band spectrum doesn’t offer nearly the same speed as mmWave, it offers much better coverage and building penetration. In many cases, low-band 5G matches or exceeds 4G LTE’s range and penetration, much of which is in the 700 MHz range. Verizon now joins the other two carriers with a nationwide 5G network using its low-band spectrum.

    Unfortunately, unlike T-Mobile and AT&T, Verizon does not have enough low-band spectrum to create a dedicated, nationwide 5G network. Instead, it has to use Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) to share the same spectrum between its 4G LTE and nationwide 5G networks. In pre-launch tests—the couple of days before the announcement when 5G started showing up on Verizon devices—the new network was actually slower than Verizon’s 4G LTE.

    “I wouldn’t worry too much about the 5G being slower than 4G yet,” write Sascha Segan & Steven Winkelman for PCMag. “This is pre-launch and either our devices or the network may not have been fully configured. But I think 5G being the same speed as 4G is more relevant, because DSS 5G is really just a shell game. You get faster speeds when you add spectrum to a carrier’s pool. The power of 5G comes from its ability to use wider channels than 4G—up to 100MHz each where 4G channels max out at 20MHz.

    “DSS simply shifts some existing 4G channels to 5G when they aren’t being used by 4G phones. So you’re going to end up with narrow odds and ends of airwaves that don’t expand the carrier’s portfolio any, but let it show a “5G” indicator for marketing purposes.”

    It remains to be seen how Verizon’s nationwide 5G network will stack up now that it’s officially launched. If the early tests are to be believed, however, it shows why T-Mobile is widely considered the 5G carrier to beat, especially with its acquisition of spectrum-rich Sprint.

  • T-Mobile Expanding Home Internet to Help AT&T DSL Customers

    T-Mobile Expanding Home Internet to Help AT&T DSL Customers

    T-Mobile has announced it is expanding its home internet to 450 markets in an effort to offer service to customers “left high‑and‑dry by AT&T.”

    AT&T made headlines when it announced it was shuttering its DSL service. While the company said it would continue to offer service to existing customers for the time being, it is no longer taking new customers and considers DSL a legacy technology to be phased out.

    T-Mobile started offering wireless home internet in 2019, and has been slowly expanding its service. Following AT&T’s announcement, however, T-Mobile has kicked its expansion plan into high gear.

    “We can’t stand idly by while AT&T leaves potentially millions with fewer home Internet options at a time when our connection to the Internet is so vital — for work, remote school, connection with family and friends. That’s why we’re undertaking this massive expansion,” said Mike Sievert, CEO of T-Mobile. “The Carriers and the Cableopoly have consistently over-promised and under-delivered when it comes to broadband access. Thanks to our merger with Sprint, we can end this and give millions in underserved communities more choices and competition for high-speed home broadband.”

    The company’s service is $50 a month and, unlike many standard internet providers, has no equipment leases. The $50 also includes taxes and fees, much like T-Mobile’s phone plans. The service has no data caps, no two-year contracts and no “introductory prices” that rapidly expand once the introductory period is over.

    It’s a safe bet those terms will make it a hit with customers who are tired of traditional internet options.

  • T-Mobile Improves 5G Performance By Mixing 5G Types

    T-Mobile Improves 5G Performance By Mixing 5G Types

    T-Mobile has used new radio carrier aggregation to boost 5G performance, combining mid-band downloads with low-band uploads.

    T-Mobile was one of the first companies to popularize the multi-frequency approach, using low-band, mid-band and high-band mmWave to build a full 5G network. Each of these types of 5G has their own advantages.

    Low-band is only marginally faster than 4G LTE, but offers excellent range and building penetration since it’s in the 600 MHz spectrum. Mid-band is widely believed to be the sweet spot, offering over 1 Gbps speed, combined with decent range. T-Mobile is using the 2.6 Ghz spectrum it acquired in the Sprint merge for its mid-band. mmWave, on the other hand, is the fastest type of 5G and is over 6 Ghz. Unfortunately, its range is only a couple hundred meters and it has abysmal penetration.

    T-Mobile has been experimenting with combining mid-band spectrum for downloads, while using low-band for uploads. The end result has been increased speeds overall, while at the same expanding the carrier’s 5G footprint.

    “When it comes to our network and what we deliver to customers, we never rest on our laurels,” saidx Abdul Saad, Chief Technology Officer at T-Mobile. “We have the first and largest nationwide 5G network, covering over 250 million people across 1.3 million square miles, and we’ll never stop working with industry leaders to develop and refine new technologies like this so we can deliver #5GforAll.”

  • Apple to Unveil 5G iPhone October 13 via Online Event

    Apple to Unveil 5G iPhone October 13 via Online Event

    Apple has announced its upcoming ‘Hi, Speed’ event, in which it plans to unveil its 5G iPhone 12.

    As carriers continue rolling out 5G across the country, the lack of a wide variety of quality 5G phones is one of the factors holding back widespread adoption. Apple’s iPhone is considered by many analysts to be one of the lynchpins necessary for the new technology to truly take off.

    Analysts believe Apple will release iPhone 12 models supporting both mmWave and the slower, but far more available, low and mid-band 5G. This could give a big boost to T-Mobile and AT&T, since both companies have invested heavily in low-band rollouts. T-Mobile has also rolled out mid-band 5G in a large portion of the US, providing speeds in excess of 1Gbps, while still providing decent coverage.

    Apple’s even is scheduled for October 13, and will be broadcast from Apple Park.

  • Verizon LTE Home Internet Now Available In 48 States

    Verizon LTE Home Internet Now Available In 48 States

    Verizon’s LTE Home Internet service has been expanded to 189 markets across 48 states, according to the company.

    As more and more workers have been forced to work from home during the pandemic, home internet access has become more important than ever. The same is true of remote learning. More children than ever are enrolled in remote learning programs that require good internet access.

    Unfortunately, the US still has a major disparity between the internet options individuals in cities have, versus those in rural areas. Increasingly, wireless companies are looking to bridge this gap, with both Verizon and T-Mobile offering LTE home service.

    Verizon has now expanded their offerings to include 189 markets in 48 states, giving customers more choices than ever before.

    “This summer, we introduced LTE Home Internet in select pilot markets, and the response from customers was incredible,” said Frank Boulben, Senior Vice President of Consumer Marketing and Products at Verizon. “It’s clear the need for connectivity has never been greater during these challenging times, that’s why today, we’re expanding LTE Home Internet to even more customers in rural areas of America who may not have access to broadband Internet.”

    For those customers that fall in Verizon’s market, this will be a welcome option.

  • AT&T Takes Page From Verizon, Unveils Mix and Match Plans

    AT&T Takes Page From Verizon, Unveils Mix and Match Plans

    AT&T has unveiled Unlimited Your Way, a mix and match option for its wireless plans.

    Verizon has heavily advertised its mix and match plans, touting the benefits of each family member having a plan that works for them. It appears AT&T is jumping on board with its new plans. The company will allow customers to mix and match Unlimited Starter, Extra and Elite plans, starting at $35/mo.

    “At AT&T, we’re always listening to our customers and are dedicated to providing them the best wireless experience for their needs,” said David Christopher, executive vice president and general manager, AT&T Mobility. “We recognize that individuals have different wireless needs and not all family members want the same rate plan. With the launch of Unlimited Your Way we’re making it simple – now customers can pick the best combination of unlimited wireless plans for each family member – all with access to fast, reliable and secure nationwide AT&T 5G included at no extra charge.”

    With Verizon still comfortably in the lead as the top US wireless carrier, and T-Mobile recently moving into the second-place spot, it’s probably a safe bet that AT&T will continue to roll out new deals and promotions.