T-Mobile Rolling Out New Icon to Differentiate Fast 5G from Regular 5G
Sep 15, 2021, 10:32 AM by Rich Brome @richbrome
T-Mobile phones will soon display a new icon in the status bar to indicate when they are connected to 5G in a higher frequency band that offers faster data speeds. The icon will appear first on the newest iPhones, and the company is working with phone makers "to include this update on as many devices as possible". The icon says "5G UC"; UC stands for Ultra Capacity, the company's name for its mid-band and mmWave 5G networks. Those networks offer much faster data speeds than 5G operating in lower frequency bands. All three major national carriers offer 5G in both low-band and higher frequency bands. The low-band 5G networks offer the broadest coverage, but typically offer data speeds that are not much faster than 4G. T-Mobile has been aggressively rolling out 5G in mid-band frequencies (band 41) that it gained access to in its merger with Sprint. Verizon and AT&T will start to roll out their mid-band 5G networks (in band 77 AKA C-Band) by the end of this year or early next year.