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AT&T Might Finally Ditch '5GE' Marketing Following National Advertising Board Recommendation [Updated]

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Following a challenge from T-Mobile, the National Advertising Review Board today announced that it has recommended that AT&T discontinue its "5G Evolution" or "5GE" marketing claims, noting that they may be misleading to consumers.

5ge-iphone-label.jpg

"5G Evolution" is the branding that AT&T has been using in areas where the latest 4G LTE technologies like three-way carrier aggregation, 4x4 MIMO, and 256-QAM are available. Since the release of iOS 12.2, AT&T has been displaying a "5GE" label in place of "LTE" on iPhones that connect to its network in areas where those technologies are available.

In a statement shared with MacRumors, AT&T said that it "respectfully disagrees" with the decision, but will comply as a "supporter of the self-regulatory process." AT&T added that it is not currently using "5G Evolution" branding in its advertising, but it did not confirm whether it will stop using the "5GE" label on smartphones.
AT&T respectfully disagrees with the reasoning and result reached by the Panel majority. AT&T's customers nationwide continue to benefit from dramatically superior speeds and performance that its current network provides. As a supporter of the self-regulatory process, however, AT&T will comply with the NARB's decision.
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AT&T has since launched its actual 5G network in select cities in the United States. The first 5G-enabled iPhones are expected to launch later this year.

Update 1:29 p.m.: AT&T has told LightReading that it does not plan to remove the 5GE icon from phones because it is not considered advertising and thus falls outside of the NARB's recommendation.
But AT&T said the NARB's recommendation only applies to its advertising and therefore will not affect the one element that really matters: Its service icon.
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Article Link: AT&T Might Finally Ditch '5GE' Marketing Following National Advertising Board Recommendation [Updated]
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2020/05/20/att-might-finally-ditch-5ge/
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This is typical. Corporate ******** at it's finest. The only reason they are complying is because they are afraid that by defrauding and misleading consumers they will empower the government to actually step in and do its job. "Self-regulation" is the biggest lie told to the American public since last Thursday.

I'd like to "self-regulate" my compliance with income taxes, among other things...
 
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Yet another shady thing they never should've been doing... My mother and my God mother for example, both in their sixties, have been swindled by their bull **** before. Unnecessarily up-selling them, taking advantage, and just downright mistreating them. It's definitely safe to say I hate this company and wouldn't give them my money if they were the last carrier in existence.
 
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Even though the "5Ge" label is misleading, AT&T is only using it in areas where they've upgraded their network. I still see "LTE" in some places, especially outside of the city.

It'd be nice if they could come up with something that suggests it's upgraded LTE, but not 5G. Maybe "LTE+"? In the end it doesn't matter that much; no matter where you are you're just going to use your phone when you need to, but it's nifty to know where you might have better cellular data performance.
 
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I find it rich that T-Mobile was the one complaining. They're the ones that stated the whole fake 4G crap that AT&T capitulated to using in order to not appear like they were behind T-Mobile.
 
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brinary001 said:
Yet another shady thing they never should've been doing... My mother and God mother for example, both in their sixties, have been swindled by their bull s**t before. Unnecessarily up-selling them, taking advantage, and just downright mistreating them. It's definitely safe to say I hate this company and wouldn't give them my money if they were the last carrier in existence.
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That took a couple reads... First time through I thought you said God’s mother had been swindled— they say there’s no bad publicity, but I’d have to think the mother of God calling AT&T out as frauds might be the exception...
 
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Mo398 said:
its so infuriating when they keep arguing "well my phone says 5G, so are you calling me a lier"
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I found it’s less infuriating to stick to the basics regarding friends and family. Just put your focus in a couple important areas:
1. Don’t point the barrel of that firearm at me whether it’s loaded or not, and
2. Don’t provide me with toxic substances to consume for sustenance

They can be wrong about EVERYTHING else, and as long as they’re right on those two, we’re good! :D
 
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