The network notes that both LG and Samsung expect to ship 600MHz-ready phones sometime in the fourth quarter of 2017. While there's no mention of which phones are in line, the timing suggests that the Galaxy Note 8 and V30 may be first in line. Whatever shows up, this could still leave you waiting a while before you can find out whether or not 600MHz is as helpful as T-Mobile makes it out to be. That's especially true if you live elsewhere in the world, where 600MHz wireless is a long-term dream at best.

It's potentially a coup for T-Mobile. While the 700MHz LTE you see across big carriers today isn't exactly crude, it doesn't perform quite as well as the 600MHz band. And T-Mobile's huge number of 600MHz licenses gives it plenty of headroom, whether it's for additional customers or future 5G rollouts. This isn't to say that rivals like AT&T or Verizon are necessarily in trouble. It's just that T-Mobile might have an ace up its sleeve.