AT&T says it will have nationwide 5G by early 2020

“AT&T already launched its initial mobile 5G network in parts of 12 U.S. cities last December, but it’s now preparing for full nationwide coverage — a dauntingly large task that its millimeter wave small cells won’t be able to handle alone,” Jeremy Horwitz reports for VentureBeat. “This morning, the carrier revealed that it will ‘offer nationwide 5G coverage with our lower band spectrum,’ specifically the sub-6GHz frequencies discussed in our interview with AT&T VP Gordon Mansfield yesterday.”
“In the transition from 4G to 5G, AT&T says that it has brought two interim technologies into more markets than expected: 1Gbps LTE-LAA is now in parts of 55 cities, with its controversially named ‘5G Evolution’ or ‘5G E’ — actually just 4G LTE-Advanced — in over 400 markets, offering roughly 400Mbps speeds on select 4G devices,” Horwitz reports. “Towers with the 5G E hardware will be capable of flipping to actual 5G service in the near future, but until then will confuse 4G users into believing that they’re using 5G technologies.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: “5G E.” Ugh. False advertising by any other name would smell as foul.