Leaf&Core

Sprint’s Suing AT&T Over Fake 5G Labels

Danielle from Leaf and Core
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Promotional material from AT&T regarding 5G E.

5G E is a lie

AT&T has rolled out updates to Android and iOS phones to show “5G E” (for “5G Evolution”) in the status bar for the connection. This might make you assume it’s a 5G phone, but it’s not. Surprisingly, rather than the class action lawsuit of concerned citizens, it’s Sprint, one of AT&T’s primary competitors, who has taken issue with AT&T’s deceptive tactics.

AT&T is using a technology called LTE Advanced (LTE-A), a slightly faster version of 4G LTE that is not as fast or as capable as the 5G standard. AT&T claims their LTE-A can be up to twice as fast as LTE. That means it’s still slower than 5G, which is up to ten times faster than LTE’s theoretical maximum speeds with data bandwith hundreds of times faster and latency a tenth of the time. 5G is fast. LTE-A has been out since 2014. This is not fifth generation wireless technology, it’s a small efficiency improvement on 4G tech that’s already five years old.

AT&T’s competitors have openly mocked them for their “5G E” technology, but only Sprint’s taking them to court.

Sprint’s Lawsuit

Sprint’s taking AT&T to court over their deceptive tactics. They didn’t come unprepared either. Sprint commissioned a survey  to test AT&T’s brand awareness. They asked consumers if they believed “5G E” networks were as fast as 5G networks or better. A shocking 54% believed that not only was “5G E” as fast as 5G, but that it could be faster. This is an extreme falsehood. 43% of people surveyed believed that if they bought an AT&T phone today they’d have a 5G phone. This simply isn’t true either.

“This is an action arising from AT&T’s false advertising and deceptive acts and  practices under Section 43(a) of the Lanham Act (15 U.S.C. § 1125(a)) and Sections 349 and 350 of the New York General Business Law. AT&T has employed numerous deceptive tactics to mislead consumers into believing that it currently offers a coveted and highly anticipated fifth generation wireless network, known as 5G. What AT&T touts as 5G, however, is nothing more than an enhanced fourth generation Long Term Evolution wireless service, known as 4G LTE Advanced, which is offered by all other major wireless carriers.”

– from Sprint’s lawsuit against AT&T

Sprint, Verizon, and T-Mobile are working hard to bring actual 5G networks to consumers. AT&T hopes that their fake “5G E” will keep consumers distracted until they can release actual 5G hardware.

“The truth is that the network AT&T advertises as “5GE” offers consumers the same service as its 4G LTE Advanced service, which was already available to AT&T customers and has been deployed by all four national carriers.”

– from Sprint’s lawsuit against AT&T

Sprint’s seeking to stop AT&T from using the 5G E label to deceive customers. They’re asking for damages as well. The case will have a jury present. Presented with the facts, it’s hard to imagine a jury siding with AT&T in this matter. The case could prevent AT&T from doing this in the future by setting precedent.

Americans Left Out

While other carriers around the world will have actual 5G this year, in the U.S., we may not. With a former Verizon lawyer in charge of the FCC, it’s no surprise that AT&T is allowed to deceive customers so blatantly. The Trump appointed FCC chairperson, Ajit Pai, seems to favor the interests of large telecom companies like AT&T over consumers and small businesses, as made evident by his stance on net neutrality.

By the time there’s any outcome of this lawsuit, AT&T will likely have already upgraded to real 5G, making the ruling moot. They’ll chalk their legal fees up to marketing, and that’ll be the end of this sad era of fake 5G phones. That is, until we start working on 6G phones and AT&T releases a “6G E” label.

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