AT&T launches real 5G in 10 U.S. cities

In November, AT&T promised to bring 5G to “tens of millions of customers” before year’s end, and now the company’s delivered on the promise. 

On Friday, AT&T announced the availability of 5G in 10 cities: Birmingham, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Providence, Rochester, San Diego, San Francisco, and San Jose. 

If you want to check the coverage in your area, AT&T has these handy maps, though they may not be entirely accurate yet as they show what AT&T plans to make available by February 2020. 

Customers will need a 5G-capable phone, such as the Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ 5G, also available from AT&T, to take advantage of faster internet speeds. AT&T will start shipping the device today to those who pre-ordered it; those that haven’t can now buy it in AT&T retail locations or online. 

Note that AT&T is now launching the slower, low-band 5G, which the company says is good enough for mobile customers but not for high-traffic areas such as arenas, shopping centers, and campuses. These will be better served by AT&T’s high-band 5G+, which is currently available for businesses and collaborators in parts of 23 cities, but there’s no word on when it’ll be widely available. There’s also a third, similarly-branded service on offer from AT&T, called 5GE, but that’s essentially the company’s 4G LTE Advanced which is slower than real 5G.