T-Mobile expands 5G network to rural Flathead areas

T-Mobile recently expanded its 5G wireless network in the Flathead Valley to include Hungry Horse, Little Bitterroot Lake, Marion, Martin City and Olney.

The company’s 5G speeds are twice as fast as its LTE coverage, and the network is expected to “improve exponentially over time,” according to a press release. By 2024, T-Mobile hopes to deliver nationwide speeds averaging 450 megabits per second, more than 10 times the current average speed.

T-Mobile, which merged with Sprint in April, is using low-band, 600 MHz spectrum to lay the foundation for 5G coverage in the Flathead. This service can cover hundreds of square miles from a single cell site, and it works indoors and outside.

The company touts its 5G network as a cut above the 5G services offered by other wireless operators, because competitors’ high-band millimeter wave spectrum reportedly isn’t scalable in rural areas. The press release explained that although other 5G services offer fast network speeds over a small area, those networks can be blocked by walls, window and leaves. Other 5G networks apparently have limited ranges outdoors, and customers can lose their signal by moving locations or walking inside, the release asserted.

T-Mobile’s 5G network is the nation’s largest, covering 250 million people, across 1.3 million square miles and more than 7,500 cities and towns.

The company also recently launched its Standalone 5G network, reportedly the first such system in the world. According to the press release, “standalone architecture is a critical building block for the continued development of 5G and helps expand T-Mobile’s footprint – already the nation’s largest – to nearly 2,000 additional cities and towns.”