T-Mobile also will use some mmWave spectrum and hopes to add Sprint’s mid-range 2.5GHz airwaves if the two can finally get their merger approved. The wireless operator picked up 31MHz of 600MHz spectrum in an FCC auction held back in April 2017. The company paid nearly $8 billion and just about quadrupled the amount of low-band spectrum it owned at the time. T-Mobile put it right to work and within months, the carrier had it providing 4G LTE signals in 992 cities and towns in 33 states.

The next generation in wireless connectivity, 5G will provide download speeds at least ten times faster than 4G LTE. Once a nationwide network is up and running, we should see these faster speeds contribute to the creation of new industries and businesses that we can’t even conceive of right now. The availability of nationwide 4G LTE helped create the ride-sharing industry which now has two billion-dollar companies in Uber and Lyft.