AT&T's 5G Plus expansion makes T-Mobile feel like a hero. AT&T currently offers 2 flavors of 5G. 5G Plus is available over the high-band spectrum mmWave and regular 5G. Both are comparable to 4G LTE. A blog post explains that AT&T will boost 5G Plus in 2022 with the mid-band spectrum C-band spectrum, which is something that T-Mobile has long advocated.
John Legere, former CEO of T-Mobile, criticized AT&T's lack of a mid-band spectrum for 2019. He stated that 5G requires a combination low-band, middle-band and high-band spectrum to be effective. High-band mmWave 5G is the most efficient for areas with high concentrations of users. It offers faster speeds over shorter distances. Low-band 5G, on the other hand, offers the minimum speed for wider areas. A mid-band range acts as the median between both spectrums, so 5G service without any in-between is not ideal.
T-Mobile was until this year the only major carrier to have access to all spectrums. Verizon and AT&T spent nearly $70 billion together to gain access the C-band spectrum in Feb. This puts them two years behind T-Mobile. AT&T intends to combine mmWave with C-band under 5G+, but it doesn't seem that it gives you the ability to distinguish between them. T-Mobile works similarly. It displays a 5G UC icon if you are connected to its high-band spectrum or mid-band spectrum.
The transition to 5G is complicated enough without all the rebranding by mobile carriers. Each service has its own nicknames to describe their 5G speeds, and AT&T mislabels its 4G service as 5Ge makes the 5G mess less appealing every day.
