AT&T just announced which will expand 5G connectivity to customers with older unlimited plans for free starting this month.
Before today, if you bought a 5G phone, say, a iPhone 12—And wanted to activate it on the AT&T 5G network, you had to upgrade to one of the operator’s newest unlimited plans (AT&T Unlimited Starter, Unlimited Extra and Unlimited Elite). These plans include the ability to takeThe advantage of AT&T’s 5G network based on ultra-fast millimeter waves, which the company indicates with a 5G + icon, as opposed to the normal 5G, which is slower than 5G +, and 5G E, which is not 5G. This is a good thing, because there is no point in having to change your unlimited plan to a different unlimited plan just to access 5G.
While it is difficult to say precisely when a specific customer will receive the upgrade to 5G, AT&T says it will send people text notifying them when 5G is added to their plan. That said, it is important to remember that people already need to have a 5G compatible device and be located in the area covered by the AT&T 5G network.
Following the addition of 5G to the older unlimited consumer plans, AT&T will also expand 5G support to the older unlimited business plans starting in April.
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While AT&T adding 5G support to older plans may seem like a small favor to people with older plans, the move almost looks like a chance for Verizon, which earlier this week announced which will exclude customers in their less expensive metered and unlimited plans from accessing their mmWave 5G or 5G based on the newly acquired C band spectrum from Verizon.
It is currently unclear whether AT&T will restrict 5G data after a certain point in these older unlimited plans, as they originally did not include the price of 5G. Gizmodo contacted AT&T for clarification and we will update the story if we hear back.