T-Mobile is the first operator to have a 5G network in all 50 U.S. states
Alaskan operator GCI turned up its first 5G network in April, making good on a 2019 promise to launch 5G service in the spring of 2020. Now, GCI is working with T-Mobile to allow T-Mobile customers with 5G smartphones to tap into 5G while roaming in Anchorage, Alaska.
The news “welcome[s] GCI customers to nationwide 5G” and makes T-Mobile the first and only wireless provider to offer 5G coverage in all 50 states in the U.S.
Neville Ray, president of technology at T-Mobile said, “The massive nationwide 5G network we’re building and expanding by the day — paired with important partnerships like this — extend our 5G leadership over the competition and deliver meaningful 5G experiences to our customers. Now, our customers with 5G devices can keep 5G service when in Alaska.”
In addition, the collaboration allows GCI customers roaming access to T-Mobile’s nationwide 5G network, which covers more than one million square miles and nearly 6,000 cities and towns.
Greg Chapados, GCI president and CEO, explained that GCI and T-Mobile have a long history of together, and in 2014 launched the nation’s first LTE roaming partnership.
He called this latest partnership “a win for both companies and for GCI customers.”
GCI, which serves around 200 communities across Alaska, said that its 5G network will be five times faster than its existing wireless network and that Hometown 5G “represents an investment of tens of millions of dollars in Anchorage’s economy” which will inform GCI’s wireless and wireline network upgrades in other Alaskan cities.
The operator’s 5G network is expected to expand to Juneau, Fairbanks and other fibre-served communities.
