T-Mobile’s upgraded Ultra Capacity 5G network is now nationwide

T-Mobile already has the most expansive 5G coverage in the US,leaving Verizon and AT&T far behind. With its low-band frequencies, T-Mobile provides 5G access nationwide, but with internet speeds that can’t quite match what mmWave offers. T-Mobile intends to address that byenabling standalone 5G over mid-bandacross the country, giving millions of Americans a true 5G network — and one that’s much faster than the 4G they had before.

Ultra Capacity is basically T-Mobile’s branding for its mid- and high-band frequencies. Right now, the carrier is using the 2500MHz band to deliver much faster speeds compared to its lower-band 5G network. Since this is still sub-6GHz, you may expect solid indoor 5G coverage without the need to maintain a line of sight — as can be the case with mmWave frequencies.

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Like its current massive 5G network, T-Mobile Ultra Capacity will run overstandalone 5G. This means the carrier isn’t leaning on legacy 4G tech to deliver 5G signals to your phone, and what you’re using is a true 5G network. Now thatT-Mobile has enabled calling over 5G (VoNR), the need for 4G fallback would be further reduced.

A few months back,T-Mobile demonstrated carrier aggregation over 5G (NR CA)using a combination of two 2500MHz (N41) channels and one 1900MHz (N25) channel to hit an impressive download speed of 3Gbps. Even though this is a theoretical speed achieved in test conditions, it’s still fascinating that T-Mobile could reach multi-gig speeds on a mid-band network.

The T-Mobile logo with a top-view image of a city in the background

The carrier performed that test on a Samsung Galaxy S22 with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X65 modem. Galaxy S22 owners should be able to access carrier aggregation over mid-band in the next few weeks, with more devices to follow.

T-Mobile’s Extended Range 5G over sub-1GHz bands already reaches 321 million Americans. The telco aims to provide similarly expansive coverage on its mid-band network, as well, by next year, and it’s already on track to hit its 2022 goal of covering 260 million people across the US.

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