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Angela Lang / CNET
AT & T’s 5G network will begin to boost later this year with the addition of some of its new wireless spectrum. At its analyst event on Friday, the carrier detailed its purchase of $ 27.4 billion in additional midband waves. at the recent record breaking FCC auction.
The company has announced that it will begin rolling out the first half of its spectrum purchase at the end of 2021, covering 70 to 75 million people by the end of 2022 and expanding to more than 100 million people at the end of 2021. “Start” of 2023.
Known as the C-band, the mid-band spectrum has been seen by the wireless industry as a key technology to deliver faster 5G performance than existing, longer-range low-band networks while covering larger areas than faster millimeter-wave 5G.
At its own analyst event on Wednesday, Verizon said this new spectrum would allow it to deliver peak download speeds of 1 gigabit per second. The country’s largest operator, which has spent the most on C-band, is also planning to roll out spectrum more aggressively later this year and has said it plans to cover 100 million people by next March.
AT&T made no speed promises during its Friday presentation and didn’t say whether users will need to have any particular unlimited plans to access the new flavor of 5G.
In a press release following the event, the carrier said it would expand 5G access to all of its unlimited consumer plans later this month. The company previously limited 5G to those that offered its most recent Starter, Extra, and Elite unlimited offerings.
Chris Sambar, executive vice president of technology operations at AT & T, told CNET that – like Verizon – AT&T iPhone 12 and Galaxy s21 The devices already include C-band network support, as does the Netgear Nighthawk 5G Mobile Hotspot Pro. Other 5G phones that the operator sells in the future will work similarly with the new spectrum.
Unlike Verizon, AT&T’s version of the Google Pixel 5 will work with its C-band version, the carrier tells CNET. In a statement, a spokesperson said that of current AT&T users who have 5G devices on its network, “more than 70% of them are on devices compatible with the band. VS.”
The news comes on the third day of events from U.S. carrier analysts after the FCC auction. Thursday T-Mobile provided business status update detailing its 5G improvements and the migration of Sprint users to T-Mobile plans, and further teasing the impending launch of its home broadband internet service.
AT & T’s Sambar says that, like its rivals, the wireless service provider will launch its own home wireless broadband offering to consumers later this year. While not going into details, he said he would use a combination of his existing 4G LTE and 5G spectra as well as his newly acquired C-band holdings.
In addition to wireless news, AT&T announced on Friday that it would expand its home broadband footprint with the addition of 3 million new fiber locations in “over 90 metropolitan areas,” with potentially an additional 4 million next year. He also revealed that a cheaper, ad-supported version of HBO Max will arrive in the United States in June, alongside an international expansion of its streaming service.
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