NAD determined that some of T-Mobile’s 5G claims are misleading
After an examination of T-Mobile US’ claims about its 5G network, the National Advertising Division (NAD) of BBB National Programs has found that the carrier’s ads have been potentially misleading consumers.
While NAD determined that some of the carrier’s claims about its future network — such as saying it will “build America’s largest 5G network” and that it will have “more towers, more engineers and more coverage” than its competitors — are reasonable enough, it also said that claims about it being the “best 5G network” or that it “will deliver unprecedented […] reliability, and the highest capacity in history” are problematic.
According to NAD, the latter type of statements implies that the promoted benefits resulting from the Sprint/T-Mobile merger will be imminently available to most T-Mobile US customers, as this is not the case.
Further, there was some issue taken with T-Mobile US’ depiction of 5G as “magenta and yellow beams rapidly shooting from tower to tower, speeding through server rooms across cities and over vast landscapes.” It was concluded that this imagery could be misleading to consumers who know little about the true status of 5G services.
T-Mobile US is not the only carrier who has come under fire for the way it is advertising its next-generation services. In July, Verizon had to pull advertisements that suggested it has a nationwide 5G network, and AT&T advertising its LTE Advanced Pro network as “5G Evolution, the first step to 5G” and using a “5GE” icon on devices has also been called out as misleading.
In this most recent case, T-Mobile US has accepted NAD’s recommendations to avoid claims implying its 5G network is “the best” and said it “supports the self-regulatory process.”
