Wireless carrier T-Mobile has finally debuted its 5G home internet service, built on Sprint's mid-band spectrum, with 30 million households in the US eligible for the new offering.
T-Mobile’s New 5G Offering for Homes
If you need a speedy broadband internet service at home, T-Mobile would gladly sell you its new 5G home internet service---even if you're not an existing customer. In exchange for $60/month ($65/month with autopay), most customers will get pretty fast home internet with "expected" data download speeds of approximately 100Mbps.
All eligible customers should see average speeds of 50Mbps, according to the official announcement. The carrier decides whether you're on a 4G or 5G network, whichever is faster, depending on coverage in your area and signal strength.
On top of that, you get unlimited data with no data caps. Other perks include no taxes, no hardware rental fees for the 4G/5G modem (it doubles as a Wi-Fi router), and no annual contracts---but you must self-install your own equipment.
You can cancel the service at any time provide you return your leased router to T-Mobile.
T-Mobile’s Home Internet: The Highlights
The company has highlighted the following perks of the new service:
- Great value. $60/month, with AutoPay, period. No added taxes or fees. No equipment fees. No contracts. No surprises or exploding bills.
- Fast and unlimited. With expected average speeds of 100 Mbps for most new customers, it’ll handle all your home’s needs, with unlimited data and no caps.
- 5G powered. T-Mobile ships a 4G/5G gateway to your home.
- Easy to set up. Plug it in, download the app and follow a few simple instructions. You’re online in minutes.
- Backed by experts. When you need help, experts are just a call or message away.
You can check whether the new service is available in your area on the T-Mobile website.
An Important Caveat About Slowdowns
The Verge highlights an important caveat.
Home internet customers are subject to data slowdowns during times of network congestion, which could be a serious deterrent for some customers who live in dense areas.
"T-Mobile’s 5G network spans 1.6 million square miles, with 1.45 million of that coverage in small-town America," notes the company. With 30 million eligible households, "that’s already more homes than Verizon hopes to cover by the end of 2023," the carrier said.
Of the 30 million homes that are currently eligible for the service across 48 contiguous US states and Hawaii, the Uncarrier says that ten million homes are located in rural areas.
The company plans to continue to expand access in the future.
Built on Sprint’s Mid-Band Spectrum
T-Mobile said in a 2019 filing with the FCC that its acquisition of Sprint was an important prerequisite for bringing a fast 5G internet service to underserved rural areas. The Uncarrier has since been piloting the home internet service over its current LTE network in select cities, managing to end 2020 with as many as 100,000 subscribers in the pilot.
Now that the service has exited the pilot stage, becoming available to 5G customers, the company appears confident in its ability to compete in this space not only with the likes of Comcast and Charter but also rural broadband providers and rivals AT&T and Verizon.
All told, T-Mobile is projecting half a million home internet subscribers by the end of 2021 and approximately 7-8 million subscribers by 2025.