Sprint suing AT&T over the misleading 5GE network indicator on phones

[Deleted member 3812]

Sprint has filed a lawsuit against AT&T over their misleading 5GE network indicator on their phones claiming "false advertising and deceptive acts and practices", within the lawsuit are results of a Sprint commissioned survey in which "54% of wireless consumers surveyed believed AT&T's 5GE network to be "the same as or better than a 5G network", with 43% believing that if they purchased an AT&T phone today, it would be running on a 5G network":



Article about this lawsuit: https://www.androidpolice.com/2019/...ourt-by-sprint-over-misleading-5ge-indicator/

AT&T Communications CEO John Donovan won't be smiling now — while T-Mobile and Verizoncalling out AT&T's "5GE" antics may have amused him, news of the federal lawsuit filed by Sprint against the company likely will not. In a strongly-worded complaint filed with the Southern District of New York, Sprint is looking to get AT&T to stop referring to its 4G LTE Advanced network by the misleading term 5G Evolution, or any other similar name with the words 5G in it.

Sprint's reasoning for the lawsuit is pretty straightforward — with actual 5G on the horizon, AT&T rebranding its 4G LTE Advanced network (which other carriers also offer) and changing the indicator on people's phones to show 5GE (with the letter E de-emphasized) "violates federal and state laws governing false advertising and deceptive acts and practices." It also undermines billions of dollars being pumped into infrastructure and network upgrades to be the first to mass deploy 5G across the country.

The lawsuit also mentions the results of a survey commissioned by Sprint — 54% of wireless consumers surveyed believed AT&T's 5GE network to be "the same as or better than a 5G network", with 43% believing that if they purchased an AT&T phone today, it would be running on a 5G network.

Long story short, the misleading advertisements would succeed in, well, misleading people, giving AT&T an unfair advantage.

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[Iceman]

Yeah, I found that strange on my ATT phone.. didn't think 5G had been greenlit yet. Then I see 5Ge.. and was like, the hell does this mean? It actually felt slower than 4G so I was kinda suspicious.

Glad to know I'm not crazy or too behind the times. I ain't paying more for fake 5G, ATT. I'm going to watch that next bill closely.

 

[Deleted member 3812]

Yeah, I found that strange on my ATT phone.. didn't think 5G had been greenlit yet. Then I see 5Ge.. and was like, the hell does this mean? It actually felt slower than 4G so I was kinda suspicious.

Glad to know I'm not crazy or too behind the times. I ain't paying more for fake 5G, ATT. I'm going to watch that next bill closely.

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5G hasn't even been widely deployed yet, here in the U.S. test equipment have been installed to test 5G, but it's not been deployed widely yet.

 

[SilentPanda]

Well, also no consumer phone that is out currently support 5g with most expect to be shown at Mwc later this month

 

[BlinkBlank]

Yeah, that seems very misleading.

 

[lunarworks]

AT&T did this before 4G was rolling out, too. They rigged phones to show HSPA+ as "4G". That's why everyone else settled on displaying LTE.

 

[FaceHugger]

Isn't South Korea the only country to have even implemented 5G?

 

[LCGeek]

This needs to be done for their fiber broadband network. The internal infrastructure is fiber but consumers still have it delivered to them at the end of their dsl network technology. Converting packets always cost time and its hidden latency.

So nice that a lack understanding in tech let's companies rip us off.

 

[Supercrap]

Yep. A co-workers son got a note 9 recently on att and it said 5ge now - I told him that att is just gals advertising, since I have a note 9 (TMobile) and know the phone isn't 5g capable and had heard about ATT's strategy. Straight deception

 

[Professor Lich]

Interesting, I remember seeing an AT&T commercial last night that mentioned 5G and it didn't seem right. Didn't realize it was lawsuit worthy though.

 

[Socivol]

It's extremely misleading. My husband came and told me he had 5G I had to explain it was just some ATT marketing bullshit.

 

[ItIsOkBro]

this is why you gotta keep your marketing team in check

 

[GrrImAFridge]

Isn't South Korea the only country to have even implemented 5G?

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It's available here in Australia, albeit only in capital cities for the time being.

Edit: Oops, disregard.

 

[Saganator]

Some people take it hook line and sinker, too. Tried to tell someone their ATT phone was not actually 5g and they insisted that it was because "that's what it says it is"

 

[Deleted member 3812]

I wonder if Sprint will be successful with this lawsuit, maybe Sprint could force AT&T to remove the misleading 5GE network indicator AND release a statement that they do not have 5G and none of their current phones are 5G capable.

 

[Transistor]

Good on Sprint. This 5Ge shit is so misleading

 

[Window]

It's available here in Australia, albeit only in capital cities for the time being.

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Where are you getting a 5G service here in Aus?

I wonder if Sprint will be successful with this lawsuit, maybe Sprint could force AT&T to remove the misleading 5GE network indicator AND release a statement that they do not have 5G and none of their current phones are 5G capable.

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ATT has launched 5G in very few select locations apparently (not usable via handset - but through a portable hotspot).

 

[GrrImAFridge]

Where are you getting a 5G service here in Aus?

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Didn't Telstra flip the switch back in December? I'm a fairly long drive from Perth, so I don't have it myself.

 

[Window]

Didn't Telstra flip the switch back in December? I'm a fairly long drive from Perth, so I don't have it myself.

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Not available for commercial use yet. That's more marketing than anything else really. Switching it on just means the base stations have been upgraded so it's available for use once devices become available and product offerings are set in stone.

 

[GrrImAFridge]

Not available for commercial use yet. That's more marketing than anything else really. Switching it on just means the base stations have been upgraded so it's available for use once devices become available and product offerings are set in stone.

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Ah, right.

 

[Deleted member 3812]

Wikipedia has a listing of carriers that have a 5G NR network: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_5G_NR_networks

Here's what 5G NR is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5G_NR

5G NR (New Radio) is a new air interface developed by 3GPP for the 5G (fifth generation) mobile network.[1] It is supposed to be the global standard for the air interface of 5G networks.[2]

Specification 38 series[3] are used to provide the specifications for NR, the radio technology beyond LTE.

The study on NR within 3GPP started at 2015, and the first specification release is available by end of 2017. While the 3GPP standardization is still going on, the industry is already working on this, with expectation of the first commercial launch of 5G NR in 2019.

Carriers around the world are now launching 5G NR networks.

In 2018, 3GPP published Release 15, which include what is described as "Phase 1" standardization for the 5G NR standard. 3GPP is expected to publish Release 16, which include the "Phase 2" of 5G NR, by the end of year 2019.[5]

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