Sprint 5G Is No Moreas T-Mobile Focuses on Its Own Network
T-Mobile is putting the brakes on Sprint 5G one day after officially completing the sale of Boost, Virgin, and other prepaid Sprint services to Dish. The change is just one in a long list of things that need to be sorted out in the aftermath of April’s $26.5 billion mergers. And as with a number of other moves, it is always set to leave some clients in the lurch.
The end of the 2.5 GHz 5G sprint comes as T-Mobile opts to concentrate on their own network. Several weeks after the merger, T-Mobile has already begun the cycle in New York City and since then has initiated it in a number of other cities including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Washington D.C.
As media states, though most Sprint 5G handsets are not going to be able to make the transition, users of Samsung Galaxy S20 5G will be in the clear here. T-Mobile is providing discounts on leases on new 5G handsets for everyone else.
In a quote, T-Mobile told the press, “We are working to rapidly re-deploy, refine and review the 2,5GHz spectrum before lighting it up on the T-Mobile network.”
5G has been a major selling point for T-Mobile’s Sprint acquisition along with the sale of Boost. The carriers tried to argue that when it came to next-generation wireless technology, the deal was essential to keep them ahead of the competition with the first and second place carriers AT&T and Verizon.
At the time Ajit Pai, Chairman of FCC, agreed, “This deal would provide New T-Mobile with the scale and spectrum capital required to build a competitive 5 G network across the US.”
Earlier this week, OpenSignal named T-Mobile the top spot in availability, adding, “In the U.S., T-Mobile received the 5G Availability Award by a wide margin with 14.1% and 10.3% respectively Sprint and AT&T trailing.”
Sprint’s 5 G network outage will leave owners of early Sprint 5G phones using older Qualcomm X50 modems — like the OnePlus 7 Pro 5 G, Galaxy S10 5 G, and LG V50 ThinQ 5 G — in the lurch because their phones aren’t new enough to link to the T-Mobile network. T-Mobile officially provides replacement provides to certain customers (which differ according to the details of the system and payment plan).