Sprint lit up its mid-band 5G network in four cities today, immediately covering 3.6 million people and 1,115 square miles far more than Verizon and AT&T have managed to do in the months since they launched their own 5G systems.
Sprint says it covers 150 square miles of Atlanta; 575 square miles of Dallas-Fort Worth; 165 square miles of Houston; and 225 square miles of Kansas City. Chicago, New York, LA, Phoenix and Washington D.C. will come in a few more weeks, Sprint said. The company put out local coverage maps for its first nine cities in February.
Verizon currently has 5G in downtown Chicago and Minneapolis, and it expects to be in NYC soon. AT&T has 5G somewhere in 19 cities, but hasn’t detailed how widespread its coverage is. T-Mobile has not yet launched any 5G.
Sprint can quickly outpace its rivals on coverage because it’s using a different frequency band. Sprint is using its existing 2.5GHz cellular band for 5G on existing towers, which requires less new equipment than Verizon and AT&T’s short-range, but very fast millimeter-wave approach.
Also unlike Verizon and AT&T right now, Sprint can combine LTE and 5G to offer a seamlessly integrated network.
The other carriers aren’t being bullheaded; only Sprint has the available spectrum at the right frequency to do this, a legacy of its purchase of wireless ISP Clearwire. The government is currently considering auctioning more spectrum in the 3-7GHz bands, but much of those proceedings are stuck behind current millimeter-wave spectrum auctions.
The carrier’s first two 5G-compatible devices are the LG V50 and the HTC 5G Hub, both of which go on sale May 31st. The V50 has a 6.4-inch OLED screen and similar specs to the G8, but the thing you really need to know is that it also has a 5G logo on the back that lights up yellow, which seems appropriately over the top for a first-wave 5G phone. The 5G Hub is an odd little device that primarily serves as a Wi-Fi and Ethernet hotspot. It supports up to 20 simultaneous device connections. But the Hub also runs Android 9 Pie on its 5-inch 720p display, has Google Assistant built in, and according to Sprint, offers a wealth of possibilities for streaming 4K content and games to your TV screen. Sprint says the Galaxy S10 5G will follow these devices sometime this summer once its Verizon exclusivity wraps up.
