T-Mobile announced this week that it’s network, primarily in rural areas, is going to get a big boost, thanks to activation of spectrum they purchased a couple of years ago. For many of the rural customers touched by this new spectrum, this will show as a significant performance increase when on T-Mo’s network.
Back in 2022, T-Mobile spent a huge chunk of change ($304 million) in the FCC’s Auction 108 to acquire more than 7,000 county-based licenses that operate in the 2.5GHz spectrum space. This is also known as mid-band 5G and is the best of all 5G, as it covers big areas and can be extremely fast. It’s basically the type of 5G that T-Mobile used to jump out to its enormous 5G lead in the US, most of which it acquired in the Sprint deal.
Because this is such a huge upgrade across their network, I can’t give you specifics on which counties you would need to be in. However, T-Mobile is pitching the idea that you will likely see improvements because “nearly every county across the US” was a part of their license haul. The new coverage should impact around 80 million people. Of course, you would have to be a subscriber to actually take advantage.
These new licenses can go live almost immediately, T-Mobile said, meaning customers could see better performance in a matter of days.
The new spectrum falls under their Ultra Capacity 5G branding, so if you see your basic 5G logo switch to “5G UC” then you are on the upgraded network.
Let us know if you live in an area that’s seeing an immediate boost.
// T-Mobile
