AT&T’s low-band 5G network has expanded to 13 more cities. From large metropolitan areas to smaller urban centers, the company now covers 32 cities with its low-band 5G.
The list of new cities that can now access AT&T 5G includes Bakersfield, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Oxnard, Modesto, Liberty, Wichita, Boston, New Bedford, Frederick, St. Louis, Atlantic City and Dayton.
The carrier has consistently continued to expand it’s low-band 5G, which has a large coverage area, but is significantly slower than its mmWave counterpart. AT&T does also have mmWave 5G, but the company has only released this to business customers so far. But the super-fast “5G Plus” network, that only business customers can currently access, is available in parts of 35 cities, but cannot pass through walls.
And according to AT&T, it is now providing 50 million customers with access to its 5G network, with the company on track to expand to the rest of the US in the first half of 2020.
Still no mmWave
AT&T didn’t have the best year in 2019, when it restricted its super-fast 5G Plus to only business customers, and waited until December to launch its much slower low-band counterpart to the general public.
However, the carrier plans to have a much better 2020, saying that its 5G strategy “is starting to come into focus more clearly,” as it plans to keep adding low and high-band 5G towers to prepare for devices that can connect to both.
Another issue for AT&T appears to be the lack of 5G-enabled handsets. Despite the growing number of 5G phones, AT&T is currently only offering the Galaxy Note10+ 5G to consumers. Although this device can only connect to the low-band network, and not the 5G Plus. However, this issue is likely to be resolved in the coming months as more 5G devices hit the market.
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