Author: Klint Finley / Source: WIRED
Some AT&T customers with iPhones noticed something weird earlier this week. Those who had installed a new beta version of iOS reported seeing “5GE,” rather than “4G” or “LTE,” in the upper right-hand corner of their screens, according to The Verge. But Apple doesn’t sell an iPhone that supports 5G standards, and AT&T doesn’t yet offer 5G service for mobile phones.
In fact, what those customers saw was a bit of AT&T marketing. AT&T has branded parts of its 4G network as 5GE, or “5G Evolution.” Apple has apparently added that branding to the latest version of its mobile operating system, but doesn’t mean that anyone’s connection is actually faster because of it.
AT&T drew criticism from competitors that offer the same network technologies. Now, Sprint is suing AT&T, arguing that its advertising is deceptive. “It harms consumers by holding out AT&T’s services as more technologically advanced than Sprint’s and enticing consumers to switch wireless service providers (or remain AT&T subscribers) under false pretenses,” the lawsuit, which was filed Thursday and spotted by Engadget, says.
Sprint declined to comment on whether it would add other defendants to the suit, such as Samsung, which also displays the 5GE branding on some phones on AT&T networks, or Apple.
Someday real 5G networks could enable mobile speeds of around 10 gigabits per second—about 10 times faster than the standard Google Fiber connection. But AT&T’s Evolution service, which it introduced in 2017, doesn’t deliver speeds anywhere near that fast. The company claims the service has a theoretical upper limit of more than 400 megabits per second. Even the few services based on actual 5G technologies today can’t top 1 gigabit per second. Nationwide 5G networks aren’t expected until 2020, and few phones available today can support 5G.
AT&T argues that consumers know the difference between its “5GE” offering and actual 5G.
“We introduced 5G Evolution more than two years ago, clearly defining it as an evolutionary step to standards-based 5G,” an AT&T spokesperson said in a statement….The post Sprint Sues AT&T, Proving ‘5G’ Is Still Meaningless appeared first on FeedBox.