Look out Verizon and T-Mobile, AT&T has just boosted its 5G speeds by up to 80%

Earlier this year, AT&T announced plans to buy spectrum from Boost Mobile and Dish Network’s parent company, Echostar. Just a few months later, AT&T has now officially integrated and deployed the acquired 3.45GHz mid-band spectrum to nearly 23,000 cell sites.

What makes this mid-band upgrade so useful? While low-band frequencies provide the broadest coverage range, they are much slower. In contrast, high-band is speedy but has a much more limited range and has more issues with penetrating obstructions like buildings and even tree lines. Mid-band is the Gollilocks standard here. It’s faster than low-band, but with range and performance that’s somewhere in between the two.

The upgraded spectrum is now available in more than 5,3000 cities across the US across 48 states, and represents one of the biggest jumps in AT&T performance in a while. According to AT&T, 5G phones will see a speed increase of around 80% when connected to an area with upgraded spectrum. Its 5G-based Internet Air service will also see a boost of around 55%. First responders should also notice increased performance on AT&T FirstNet as well.

As Verizon continues to struggle under T-Mobile’s shadow, AT&T has been seen as the quieter, less exciting middle ground. It’s great to see the company trying to change this by more actively fighting its rivals. What’s even better is that this massive upgrade arrives without any price bump or other downside. Hopefully, that remains the case.