AT&T is looking to give existing subscribers even more by bringing 5G and 5G+ to legacy unlimited plans for no extra cost. AT&T Business Plans will also receive 5G and 5G+ to their unlimited plans beginning in April 2021. Users who are on AT&T’s Ultimate Elite plan will also receive HBO Max. Users are warned that during times of excessive traffic, AT&T may need to slow data temporarily to help them manage their 5G network.
The strategy to provide existing customers with unlimited 5G is consistent with how the company is approaching its customer base as of late. New customers can often see great smartphone deals while existing customers end up paying much more. Lately, AT&T has extended these deals to existing customers as well which helped the company report a second-lowest quarter ever in Q4 2020 for postpaid churn at 0.76%.
5G emerged from AT&T on a nationwide level officially in 2020, but the company is nowhere near where it will be years from now. Frankly, no one is though. Considering it took a decade or so to maximize 4G, it should be no surprise to users that while 5G is here, carriers are still learning how to manage their networks and increase speeds. Using everything from edge computing, cloud-native components, carrier aggregation, and more, AT&T and other carriers, such as DISH Wireless, continue to grow their 5G networks to meet demand.
After a huge result at the C-band auction that shattered expectations and records, AT&T now has 80 MHz of spectrum with the company expecting half of it to be available for use by the end of 2021. AT&T is expecting to use 2022-2024 and spend $6 billion to $8 billion distributing its C-band spectrum throughout the United States. mmWave continues to be a part of AT&T’s vision with the telecommunication giant putting it within 17 venues across the U.S. before the end of 2021 and 5G+ in 30 company-owned stores as well as seven airports across the country.
$80.16+ billion was the grand total raised at the C-band auction with AT&T spending over $23 billion before closing costs, less than Verizon who paid over $45 billion before closing costs as well. T-Mobile purchased a good amount of 2.5 GHz spectrum when it acquired Sprint in its merger in 2020, so its $9.3 billion spendings in the auction (before closing costs) is less but understandable. Venues have been seeing an uptick in mmWave 5G spectrum as they are dense areas that can use the faster speeds and also deliver it due to mmWave’s difficulty in traveling or penetrating walls. Every major wireless provider, including DISH Wireless who is building its 5G network from the ground up, continues to make strides in covering the United States with faster speeds and better coverage as 5G continues to grow.
Source: Fierce Wireless