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

[now i see it]

Actuallyyyyy-
When 5G does become ubiquitous years from now, only very small areas will be able to reap the benefits of super fast millimeter wave connections. Most of us will be using the slower sub-mm 5G spectrum which isn't much faster (and likely not any faster) than a good (4G) LTE connection.

So while the 5G-E icon on a smartphone might seem misleading, in a sense it IS 5G (sub mm 5G) because when sub mm 5G does roll out - it won't be any faster than 5G-E.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

It seems it would behoove them to get away from the 5Ge marketing now because if/when they have actual, real 5G, most people will not see it as something new or a reason to upgrade their phone because well...they've already had 5G!

They're sort of shooting themselves in the foot if they continue this confusion.

 

[rjohnstone]

It’s the same thing as LTE, which is short for 4G-LTE, which is just 3G+. We never even got 4G, or is that what ATT is calling 5Ge

T-Mobile is the one who labeled HSPA+ (3.5G) as 4G, and AT&T went along with it.
4G-LTE is 4G, not 3.5G.
5GE is just rebranded LTE-A (still 4G)
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AT&T quit trying to make fake 5G happen!

It's funny because they already have an actual 5G network.

 

[WestonHarvey1]

AT&T is like that kid in middle school who wouldn't put on deodorant. Everyone in gym class told him he stunk but he couldn't smell it himself and so didn't believe it.

Like Steve Jobs.

 

[Nütztjanix]

They could have just called it 4Ge - it's an upgraded (evolutionized) version of "classic" 4G after all. But that wouldn't have looked so good to the customers.

 

[nburwell]

They "might" ditch the 5GE logo? They shouldn't have even came up with that marketing ploy in the first place.

 

[rdowty]

More likely they want to remove the fake 5G label so they can charge for it when they actually have real 5G.

 

[brinary001]

They just don't want their towers burned down by morons. "Look, it's not 5G anymore!!"

The fact that so many of these dumb *** conspiracies have flourished recently should tell you everything you need to know about the American education system...and I'm American 🤦‍♂️

 

[BuffaloTF]

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.

Totally different scenario. Sprint was selling WiMax phones with 4G branding that was considerably slower than HSPA+. So T-Mo jumped on it, made the differentiation, and the IMT approved of its usage.

 

[kycophpd]

Actuallyyyyy-
When 5G does become ubiquitous years from now, only very small areas will be able to reap the benefits of super fast millimeter wave connections. Most of us will be using the slower sub-mm 5G spectrum which isn't much faster (and likely not any faster) than a good (4G) LTE connection.

So while the 5G-E icon on a smartphone might seem misleading, in a sense it IS 5G (sub mm 5G) because when sub mm 5G does roll out - it won't be any faster than 5G-E.

This is exactly what i was coming to post. It will be easier to sell 5G phones if they don’t show 5G something in the corner Already on their phone.

 

[4jasontv]

This should have been pushed to court. Let AT&T defend their marketing and if they were found to have been misleading than they can compensate their victims.

 

[BuffaloTF]

Actuallyyyyy-
When 5G does become ubiquitous years from now, only very small areas will be able to reap the benefits of super fast millimeter wave connections. Most of us will be using the slower sub-mm 5G spectrum which isn't much faster (and likely not any faster) than a good (4G) LTE connection.

So while the 5G-E icon on a smartphone might seem misleading, in a sense it IS 5G (sub mm 5G) because when sub mm 5G does roll out - it won't be any faster than 5G-E.

It's... both faster and far more efficient mhz for mhz than LTE Advanced. But just like initial LTE deployments were barely faster than HSPA, so too, is this.

 

[4jasontv]

Totally different scenario. Sprint was selling WiMax phones with 4G branding that was considerably slower than HSPA+. So T-Mo jumped on it, made the differentiation, and the IMT approved of its usage.

Good memory. I didn't really have an issue with this, although a friend of mine who had it suggested that they replace the #G signal with a percentage calculated as current speed over advertised maximum speed. Their thought was it would discourage inflated marketing numbers because it would be bad press for a handset to frequently have a low %.

 

[zorinlynx]

Actuallyyyyy-
When 5G does become ubiquitous years from now, only very small areas will be able to reap the benefits of super fast millimeter wave connections. Most of us will be using the slower sub-mm 5G spectrum which isn't much faster (and likely not any faster) than a good (4G) LTE connection.

So while the 5G-E icon on a smartphone might seem misleading, in a sense it IS 5G (sub mm 5G) because when sub mm 5G does roll out - it won't be any faster than 5G-E.

The funny thing about all this is that LTE stands for "Long Term Evolution" and was designed from the start to be a standard that can be extended and upgraded over time while preserving backwards compatibility with older devices. They really should have just continued extending and improving LTE rather than come up with a whole new "5G" standard.

 

[Guda.FL]

I only liked it because it actually showed if your or visited areas are 5g ready. When on trips or other areas of the city it would drop to lte and you actually do notice speed drops. Even through speedtest.

 

[zorinlynx]

Totally different scenario. Sprint was selling WiMax phones with 4G branding that was considerably slower than HSPA+. So T-Mo jumped on it, made the differentiation, and the IMT approved of its usage.

Funny story, my friend brought a Sprint HTC Evo when it came out and this WiMax was going to be the next best thing.

Well, throughout the entire lifetime of that phone they never actually got WiMax coverage installed in the area where he lives. He bought that phone on a promise that this fast new standard would be everywhere soon and it just never happened. They finally started doing LTE deployment but were already years behind the rest of the market at this point.

Sprint lost him as a customer because of that; it's no wonder the company never really got out of that slump and was gobbled up by T-Mobile.

Ironically I was going to buy an Evo too! But I couldn't FIND one anywhere. Eventually gave up and picked up an iPhone 4 on a whim. Ended up falling in love with the iPhone and iOS and am still here as a result!

THE WHOLE REASON I'm not an Android user is because I couldn't find an HTC Evo back in 2010. Life is funny that way.

 

[Rainshadow]

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.

you say that. And so did I. Until I moved to a place that doesn’thave any other Effective service provider. Sure, you can use another company that still uses ATT towers, but guess where your money still ends up.

you get what you get regardless of if you get upset. This day and age requires me to be connected for work etc.

 

[Jimmy Bubbles]

Good. AT&T’s argument was stupid AF. If it’s not 5G don’t say it is.

They didn’t, it says 5GE. If you think that’s “5G” then maybe the problem is between your ears.

 

[dontwalkhand]

So they’re going to put my LTE label back on my iPhone now?

 

[PhillyGuy72]

Such a nonsense scam from ATT and agree to above post....fine for false advertising!.

I used to have ATT, this icon showed up on my phone right before I switched to Verizon last April (just for a much better price...AND coverage!)

I have friends who have iPhones and tell me "I have 5G, it says it" then I ask, "you have ATT huh? Hate to break it to you, you don't have 5G, no iPhones have it. It's ATTs moronic little icon that means nothing what so ever"

 

[luvbug]

At the end of the day, AT&T accomplished exactly what they wanted: confuse and mislead consumers. Self-regulation my ass.

 

[Rainshadow]

I only liked it because it actually showed if your or visited areas are 5g ready. When on trips or other areas of the city it would drop to lte and you actually do notice speed drops. Even through speedtest.

Do you think this is true?

I get 5GE in the middle of the mountains... I don’t think this has ANYTHING to do with “being ready” for 5G. My phone doesn’t support 5G and there aint no way the forest service is going to start putting up 5G “towers” on every 5 tree down the road...

 

[Guda.FL]

Do you think this is true?

I get 5GE in the middle of the mountains... I don’t think this has ANYTHING to do with “being ready” for 5G. My phone doesn’t support 5G and there aint no way the forest service is going to start putting up 5G “towers” on every 5 tree down the road...

Cant speak for your areas, but true in my end. Year ago it was broken up a bit when driving, then more and more 5Ge was seen and when going in between LTE specific areas it was very noticeable streaming etc, i did do tests.

I’m not defending the use, but it was good to see, also when using my Works 5g s20 for example, i would directly see when the iphone was in lte so was the s20, when it had 5ge..the s20 had 5g. Nonetheless that is my exp.

 

[Jeffrosproto]

Do you think this is true?

I get 5GE in the middle of the mountains... I don’t think this has ANYTHING to do with “being ready” for 5G. My phone doesn’t support 5G and there aint no way the forest service is going to start putting up 5G “towers” on every 5 tree down the road...

Even in urban areas, there does seem to be practical difference between LTE and 5GE. Perhaps it's simply because I see the indicator, but 5GE does feel faster (and I believe that is what AT&T has stipulated the case would be, per their marketing materials). It would be a shame if everything were to go back to labelled as "LTE" - perhaps "LTE+" could be another (albeit confusing) alternative that doesn't use the actual 5G moniker.

 

[imnotthewalrus]

Good for a chuckle...