T-Mobile to turn on 5G network in Houston, nationally next month

T-Mobile President Mike Sievert and CEO John Legere answer caller questions during the announcement of the future New T-Mobile's Un-carrier Moves on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2019, in New York. T-Mobile President Mike Sievert and CEO John Legere answer caller questions during the announcement of the future New T-Mobile's Un-carrier Moves on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2019, in New York. Photo: Brian Ach, FRE / Associated Press Photo: Brian Ach, FRE / Associated Press Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close T-Mobile to turn on 5G network in Houston, nationally next month 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

T-Mobile will turn on its 5G network nationwide on Dec. 6, including in Houston, one of four initiatives the cellular carrier announced Thursday.

The three others are contingent on T-Mobile successfully merging with smaller rival Sprint, an outcome in jeopardy because of a lawsuit filed by a group of state attorneys general, including Texas’ Ken Paxton.

The 5G network will be available in 5,000 cities and towns, and will reach 200 million Americans, including many in rural areas. The company will also sell two smartphones that will work on the new network.

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T-Mobile is using a lower frequency spectrum for its initial 5G network. Its 600-Mhz band can travel further distances and pass through buildings easier than the higher frequencies used by competitors AT&T and Verizon, said Anshel Sag, an analyst who follows the cellular industry for Moor Insights & Strategy, a market research firm.

“It allows the signal to propagate over longer distances with the same number of cell sites,” Sag said. “It’s good for both rural and urban environments.”

T-Mobile will be the second carrier to make a next-generation cellular data network generally available in Houston. Sprint launched its 5G offering here earlier this year. AT&T has a mobile 5G network, but it’s available only to businesses by invitation. Verizon has launched a 5G network for home users in Houston, but not yet one for mobile.

The other three initiatives won’t happen unless the $26.5 billion deal with Sprint goes through. The merger has won the blessing of federal regulators - the Federal Communications Commission approved it Tuesday - but still faces the lawsuit filed by 15 states and the District of Columbia with a trial starting next month. T-Mobile has said it hopes the deal can be completed in early 2020.

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The three contingent proposals are:

Connecting Heroes - T-Mobile is offering to connect all first responder agencies in the United State with free talk, text and smartphone data, spending up to $7.7 billion over 10 years. Responders who have the plan will be prioritized on T-Mobile’s network so they will not be throttled with high data usage.

Project 10 Million - The carrier says it will spend $10 billion to provide free internet access to low-income households over the next five years, as well as pay for $700 million worth of hardware for use on the network. Families that are eligible will have up to 100 gigabytes of free data annually, a free WiFi hotspot and the ability to purchase more hardware at cost.

T-Mobile Connect - The company will offer a low-cost plan, with a limited amount of data, for $15 a month. Customers will get only 2 gigabytes of data at that price, but can get 5 GB for $25 a month. T-Mobile’s lowest-priced plans are currently $30 a month. Each year, for the next five years, the data limits for each of these plans will go up by 500 megabytes a month.

T-Mobile also announced a series of programs to hire more people, adding an additional 11,000 new employees by 2024. The company new Customer Experience Centers and new diversity and inclusion initiatives.

Analyst Sag said these initiatives are clearly aimed at the attorneys general in an attempt to alleviate their concerns about the merger.

“I love it when companies try to do good for society, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention they are trying to get a merger passed,” he said.

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