T-Mobile lashes out against Verizon's 5G rollout – CNET

T-Mobile is focusing its energy on tearing down Verizon’s 5G rollout, with the “un-carrier” launching an ad campaign against its rival on Wednesday. Billboards have been posted across the nation including in Times Square, with T-Mobile also setting up a Twitter handle full of memes and quizzes criticizing Verizon’s 5G pricing and lack of coverage maps, and a full website showing “what Verizon marketing really should look like,” according to John Legere, T-Mobile CEO.

The VerHideZon Twitter account was initially set up on Sept. 14, with T-Mobile saving the big reveal of who was behind it for Wednesday.

“Something had to be done. @Verizon’s been talking a big game about 5G, charging more for it and not even giving customers a map to find it,” Legere tweeted Wednesday.

Legere also published a blog post Wednesday asking Verizon to “stop hiding.”

“They’re launching 5G in a few limited outdoor areas of a few cities — and parts of some football stadiums — and charging their customers more for that limited 5G ($480 more per year for a family of four)!” Legere wrote. “To top it all off, they’re refusing to show customers exactly where their 5G is!”

By comparison, T-Mobile says it won’t charge more for 5G, and has published precise coverage maps.

T-Mobile’s 5G network has so far launched in parts of New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Dallas, Cleveland and Atlanta, while Verizon in August announced the expansion of its 5G network to Atlanta, Detroit, Indianapolis and Washington, DC, in addition to already being live in Chicago, Denver, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Providence. Verizon has also set 5G live  in 13 NFL stadiums across the nation.

Verizon didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. 

The ad campaign follows T-Mobile CTO Neville Ray last month tweeting his doubt about Verizon’s 5G network expansion plans and asking to see a coverage map.

5G, also already launched in some parts of the US by Sprint and AT&T, is being tapped by smartphones to provide faster speeds and more capacity.