AT&T is pretending like 5G is already here – and misleading users

Last week, owners of select LG and Samsung phones using AT&T network got a software update that changed the “4G” icon in their status bar to “5GE” (E stands for Evolution). In reality, AT&T hasn’t really deployed a 5G network yet – it’s just renaming LTE Advanced and LTE Advanced Pro to 5GE.

That’s as misleading as it gets. AT&T issued the update to the Samsung Galaxy S8 Active, the LG V30, and the V40, and the changelog noted just a single item: “5G Evolution indicator support added.”

The carrier said it’ll brand the real 5G with mmWare technology as “5G+.” Right now, AT&T doesn’t have any device on its roster that boasts actual 5G capabilities.

Competitor network T-mobile decided to make fun of this announcement by tweeting a video of a person posting a sticky note saying “9G” on their phone.

didn’t realize it was this easy, brb updating pic.twitter.com/dCmnd6lspH

— T-Mobile (@TMobile) January 7, 2019

In 2010, the network claimed to be “America’s largest 4G network” while not having any 4G capabilities. 5G is the current buzzword in the industry and a lot of customers are eagerly waiting for its rollout, but this is surely not a way to do it.