AT&T has been expanding its 5G network, adding coverage in both its low-band and millimeter wave (mmWave) flavors, according to CNET.
Like Verizon and T-Mobile, AT&T has been racing to deploy its 5G network. The carrier has adopted a similar strategy as T-Mobile, deploying both low-band 5G and mmWave simultaneously. Low-band 5G offers speeds only marginally faster than 4G LTE—in T-Mobile’s case, a maximum of four times faster—but has the advantage of long range and excellent building penetration. mmWave, on the other hand, offers terrible range and building penetration, but provides speeds measured in gigabits instead of megabits.
In addition to the 10 cities AT&T initially launched low-band in, the company has added nine new ones. The cities include, Baltimore, Buffalo, Bridgeport, Detroit, Las Vegas, Louisville, New York City, Philadelphia and Washington DC. Boston is also listed on the company’s coverage maps, although no announcement has yet been made.
Similarly, AT&T has added mmWave service in Baltimore, Detroit, King of Prussia and West Hollywood, bringing the total to 25 cities.
In both cases, however, AT&T lags well behind its competitors. T-Mobile has launched its low-band network nationwide, covering 200 million people, rather than a mere 19 cities. Similarly, Verizon has been pushing to deploy mmWave as quickly as possible, recently passing its 30 city goal for 2019, well beyond AT&T’s 25.
