JON BRODKIN – 4/22/2019, 4:22 PM

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/04/millimeter-wave-5g-will-never-scale-beyond-dense-urban-areas-t-mobile-says/

5G mobile networks have started arriving but only in very limited areas and amidst misleading claims by wireless carriers.

T-Mobile Chief Technology Officer Neville Ray wrote in a blog post that millimeter-wave spectrum used for 5G “will never materially scale beyond small pockets of 5G hotspots in dense urban environments.”

With 4G, carriers prioritized so-called “beachfront spectrum” below 1GHz in order to cover the entire US, both rural areas and cities.

5G networks will use both low and high frequencies, but they’re supposed to offer their highest speeds on millimeter waves.

there not being any 5G phones in the market aside from a Motorola phone sold by Verizon that requires a hardware attachment to access 5G.

The 5G industry standard was designed to make higher frequencies viable in cellular networks with improved beamforming and massive MIMO technology.