Carrier marketing campaigns are outpacing the actual networks
By Chaim Gartenberg
AT&T and Verizon had big 5G-related announcements this week: AT&T published speed test results that seemingly validated its "5G E" LTE network as the fastest around, and Verizon launched its 5G network in parts of Chicago and Minneapolis. But both of these announcements underscore just how much of a mess 5G is right now. AT&T's results appear to be skewed in the company's favor, and Verizon's rollout seems slapdash, with poor coverage even in the areas that Verizon promised.
These are just the latest headaches for 5G, which has been marred by delayed rollouts, limited hardware tests, conflicting standards, political wrangling, and more. With telecom companies rushing to be first, odds are the mess of 5G will only get worse as the rollouts continue. If people's first experiences with 5G are this shoddy, why should they trust - and pay extra - for the networks when they do actually arrive for real?