T-Mobile has been busy lighting up its 2.5GHz 5G, activating it in a few new major new cities this week. And now T-Mo has confirmed that it’s taken another step toward rolling out that mid-band 5G coverage.
T-Mobile has deactivated Sprint’s 2.5 GHz 5G service so that it can refarm that spectrum for use on its own network. T-Mo confirmed the move to Fierce Wireless, adding that Sprint customers with a Galaxy S20 5G do have access to T-Mobile’s 5G network.
“We are working to quickly re-deploy, optimize and test the 2.5 GHz spectrum before lighting it up on the T-Mobile network,” a T-Mobile spokesperson said. “In the meantime, legacy Sprint customers with compatible devices can enjoy T-Mobile’s nationwide 5G network.”
So far, we’ve seen T-Mobile deploy 2.5GHz 5G to Philadelphia, New York City, Chicago, Houston, and Los Angeles. There are still a few other cities that had 2.5GHz 5G from Sprint but don’t yet have it from T-Mobile, such as Dallas-Fort Worth, Kansas City, and Phoenix.
Today’s news does mean that some 5G early adopters on Sprint are losing access to a 5G network because they don’t have an S20. That includes customers who bought devices like a Galaxy S10 5G, LG V50 ThinQ, and OnePlus 7 Pro 5G. Those phones won’t stop working completely because they’ll still run on Sprint’s 4G LTE, but 5G is one of the major features of those phones and so some owners may be disappointed about losing that
To help them, T-Mobile has been offering trade-in deals to help those Sprint customers upgrade to a Galaxy S20 5G. Customers who own or are making payments on one of those older Sprint 5G phones and are paying less than $10 per month can get a Galaxy S20 5G for $0 per month after a $41.67 per month bill credit with an 18-month lease, while customers paying more than $10 per month for one of those devices can get an S20 for $10 per month after a $31.67 monthly bill credit and 18-month lease.
Source: Fierce Wireless