T-Mobile will cover 97 percent of Americans with 5G by the end of next year

During its virtual analyst event today, T-Mobile described some bold plans to expand its 5G coverage and accelerate its current offerings. The company says that, by the end of 2023, it will cover 90% of Americans (about 300 million) with what it calls Ultra Capacity 5G (its fastest bandwidth and mmWave service). It also plans to cover 97% of Americans (approximately 320 million) by the end of 2022 with its slowest low-band 5G, which it calls the Extended Range. Currently, 125 million are covered by Ultra Capacity, with Extended Range covering 287 million.

In addition, those currently covered by Ultra Capacity 5G will see an increase in average speeds from 300 Mbps to 400 Mbps, thanks to the additional megahertz dedicated to 5G, and T-Mobile says further speed increases are on the way. This part of T-Mobile’s 5G service is largely based on the spectrum acquired from its merger with Sprint, with mid-band frequencies suitable for faster speeds and broad coverage.

Having access to these mid-band frequencies already allowed T-Mobile to take a less aggressive approach to the recent FCC C band auction, a fact it celebrated during its call for investors today. T-Mobile says its comparatively low offer of $ 9.3 billion (Verizon and AT&T offered $ 45.4 and $ 23.4 million, respectively) went into a spectrum that would strategically complement its current shareholdings. 2.5 GHz. These frequencies will be available in 2023 and will likely figure in the latter part of the company’s aggressive expansion plans.