back to article AT&T slapped down for its '5GE' ads: You don’t have a proper 5G network, so stop saying so, says watchdog

AT&T has been officially slapped down by America's National Advertising Review Board (NARB) for its 5G Evolution campaign in which it branded its phone and network 5G E, despite not deploying full 5G technology. “A panel of the National Advertising Review Board has recommended that AT&T Services discontinue its '5G Evolution' …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Devil

    they'll be back in a few months

    AT&T will probably drop the '5G E' bullshit for now. In a few months, they'll be back at it with something like '5G X'. 'X' as in 'eXtensible'.

    Which will, of course, still be 4G/LTE. And if you use your imagination, it could be eXtended to 5G. Some day. But hey, they just bought themselves a few more years of bullshit.

    1. sanmigueelbeer

      Re: they'll be back in a few months

      But if AT&T builds ONE (1) 5G tower in the middle of the Mojave ...

      (And call this site COVID-19.)

    2. nxnwest

      Re: they'll be back in a few months

      Since the days of 2G, I've gotten in the habit of thinking of any version as (n-1)G. That almost reflects true performance and that's being generous.

  2. Craig 2

    The whole basis of the nomenclature of 4GLTE is that you have 4G as the base technology and `LTE` are the enhancements made over time to give improved performance. The AT&T usage is pretty much the exact opposite!

    1. druck Silver badge

      Lies

      But didn't they do exactly the same thing claiming their network was 4G while it was still only 3G HSDPA, and 3G back in the 2G GPRS days?

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      No, what was referred to as 4G actually IS LTE. There is no 4G that's not LTE.

  3. anthonyhegedus Silver badge

    Why have the manufacturers colluded with AT&T to enable the '5G' indicator to be displayed in the first place?

    1. elip

      Speaking as someone who worked for years in this world (on handset engineering side) - because carriers have all manufacturers by the balls, they know it, and they don't mind showing it. Some of the most disgusting and non-professional behavior I've seen in my 20 year professional career, has been middle and upper managers at Verizon and AT&T.

  4. khjohansen
    Coat

    5G - Eventually

    N/T

  5. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

    Same old, same old

    Didn't this happen with one or more US carriers bigging up their slightly enhanced 3G as the new 4G when it really wasn't?

    1. Tom 35

      Re: Same old, same old

      Bell Canada did, then when they got real 4G called it 4G+

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