T-Mobile’s standalone 5G benefits rural areas most, but speeds lag

A new Opensignal report shows that rural areas are benefiting most from boosts in 5G availability after T-Mobile’s launch of a nationwide standalone (SA) 5G network last year, but a focus on low-band 600 MHz for SA has left speeds lacking. Compared to urban users, 5G consumers in rural locations are spending a greater percentage of time connected 5G since T-Mobile’s August SA launch, according to Opensignal's analysis, though both geographies saw increased 5G availability and big latency improvements. Nearly all early 5G deployments have been in non-standalone (NSA) mode, which relies on 4G LTE anchor in the core. But most operators plan to shift to SA where the network no longer leans on 4G LTE, and opens the door for advanced 5G capabilities thanks to changes in the core. T-Mobile was the first to launch a nationwide SA 5G network in the US.