T-Mobile's 5G network is here, America’s first nationwide offering

Early last month, T-Mobile announced that it would launch its T-Mobile 5G network on December 6. Today, to everyone’s surprise, T-Mobile went ahead and set it loose four days early, becoming the first nationwide 5G wireless service in the United States. The carrier even published an interactive 5G map so customers can get an in-depth look at the network’s coverage.

The T-Mobile 5G network is a low-band 600MHz signal that covers more than 200 million people. This includes more than 5,000 cities and towns across more than one million square miles. According to T-Mobile, that’s 20,000% more towns than Verizon and AT&T.

Though this 600MHz signal won’t be fast as some of the competition, the company claims T-Mobile 5G speeds will reach 450Mbps in the US by 2024, which is ten times faster than current 4G LTE speeds. If the Sprint merger finalizes, T-Mobile will then gain access to Sprint’s faster mmWave spectrum as well, making the network even more powerful.

Metro by T-Mobile customers will also be happy to know this prepaid carrier gets access to T-Mobile’s 5G network right out of the gate.

Two smartphones will initially support this T-Mobile 5G network — the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus 5G and the OnePlus 7T Pro 5G. Customers can preorder both devices starting today, and they will be available in T-Mobile stores on Friday. More 5G devices will launch on the network in 2020.