T-Mobile says its 5G network will bring home broadband back to half of the country

T-Mobile's regulatory discussion with Sprint is moving at the usual pace of government bureaucracy, but new details of T-Mobile's plans after the merger are slowly emerging. In a document filed this week, T-Mobile's chief operating officer, Mike Sievert, said the company will use its 5G network to offer broadband at home – at speeds offering an alternative to cable or fiber – more than half of the country.

In particular, Sievert said that "the combined company will be able to offer [home broadband] to more than 52 percent of zip codes across the county. New T-Mobile will cover 64% of the territory of Charter and 68% of Comcast's territory with its broadband home services by 2024. "If true, this would represent a radical change in the Internet market at home in the United States and a real alternative to the cable monopolies that most Americans subscribe to.

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Unfortunately, T-Mobile has already shown that it is ready to say almost anything to bring this merger to a successful conclusion, and this could be another case where leaders say what the FCC wants to hear.

In the past, T-Mobile has largely deplored the fixed wireless broadband services that other vendors have touted. Although both AT & T and Verizon are interested in using 5G to offer home broadband from the start, T-Mobile has repeatedly stated that the technology would not work for large scale deployment. In January of this year, that's what Neville Ray, CTO of T-Mobile, said about the fixed 5G:

Reality check: mmW for fixed wireless is facing problems of penetration into the building and the imminent need for home antennas and truck rolls. We still have a LOT to understand before it becomes a feasible business model. #SorryNotSorry, Verizon.

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But when filing with the FCC, T-Mobile says it will be able to offer broadband broadband to rural areas, all using home-installed equipment. That's exactly the opposite of what T-Mobile has said so far on the 5G fixed, so unless T-Mobile has secretly perfected technologies that other operators – who have actually experimented with the 5G fixed – have missed, his statements do not agree. up

Here's something that would make more sense: T-Mobile knows that competition between rural broadband and broadband are two crucial issues within the FCC. She therefore positions fusion as a magic solution to these problems, without showing how her new claims fit. with statements that he made less than a year ago. It's the same thing the company did with the 5G, and with the prepaid wireless during this merger process – saying what the FCC wants to hear, with the reality far behind.

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