T-Mobile has announced a new expansion of its home internet pilot service, bringing it to more than 130 cities and towns, including many in rural areas of the United States. The Un-carrier"s home internet service debuted last year in select areas, and last month, the company expanded the service to over 450 new locations, making this the second major expansion of the pilot program.
Today"s expansion includes a handful of states, with the biggest beneficiaries being Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, with some cities in New York, North Dakota, South Dakota, West Virginia, and Wisconsin also getting the service.
T-Mobile"s broadband service is based on its LTE network, so instead of setting up cables, you connect a receiver to the company"s mobile network, which then serves internet via Wi-Fi. The company promises to upgrade the service to leverage 5G soon, though it"s still unclear when we can expect it.
The Un-carrier"s goal is to target underserved areas of the United States, which often have little to no options in terms of cable service providers. In its original announcement, the company promised 50Mbps speeds for its service, and it also comes with many of the usual T-Mobile promises - like no data caps and no hidden fees - but also things like easy self-installation so you don"t have to pay for it, no hardware rental fees, and no contracts.
With SpaceX"s Starlink service starting to come online - though still in its early stages - it looks like a few more options may be making their way to users in rural areas of the U.S.