AT&T Planning Expansion of 5G mmWave to Additional U.S. Airports By the End of 2021 - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

AT&T Planning Expansion of 5G mmWave to Additional U.S. Airports By the End of 2021

AT&T is planning to bring its 5G mmWave technology to additional airports in the United States by the end of 2021, offering customers access to its "AT&T 5G+" service with faster speeds and lower latency.

ATT new 2016 logo featured
In a press release, AT&T says that by the end of 2021, it will have expanded its 5G mmWave technology, which requires more advanced infrastructure compared to typical sub-6GHz 5G, to an additional 7 major airports in the United States. AT&T will offer its 5G+ technology in certain high-traffic parts of the airport, such as gates and concession areas.

Immersing our customers in content and connectivity no matter where they go is important to us and at the core of how we're building our 5G network. And as our customers start to take off and travel again, their need for 5G connectivity on the go is taking off as well. We're providing super-fast 5G+ connectivity at the major gate and concession areas inside the Tampa International Airport and have plans to connect 7 more major airports by the end of the year.

AT&T also says that by the end of 2021, it will be offering its 5G mmWave technology to more than 40 cities and venues across the US.

As part of our commitment in March, our teams are deploying our super-fast AT&T 5G+ in more stadiums, airports and cities across the country. Right now, AT&T 5G+ (mmWave 5G) is bringing customers increased speeds and enhanced connectivity in parts of 38 cities and 20 venues across the U.S. By the end of 2021, we expect to offer 5G+ to parts of more than 40 cities and 40 venues. That's something T-Mobile can't offer.

There are two separate types of 5G networks, one based on the standard sub-6Ghz frequency and the other on mmWave. mmWave offers significantly faster speeds compared to sub-6GHz but requires more advanced and costly infrastructure. Since the introduction of 5G in the iPhone last year, carriers and governments have boosted up the expansion of 5G technology overall, but mmWave remains to be seen mainstream.

With the iPhone 13 later this fall, Apple plans to expand its 5G mmWave compatible iPhones to countries beyond the United States, incentivizing carriers to adopt support for the technology. Check out our guide on mmWave vs. sub-6GHz to learn more.

Tags: AT&T, mmWave

Popular Stories

imac video apple feature

Apple Released Yet Another New Product Today

Friday March 20, 2026 2:39 pm PDT by
Apple has unveiled a whopping nine new products so far this March, including an iPhone 17e, iPad Air models with the M4 chip, MacBook Air models with the M5 chip, MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, the all-new MacBook Neo, an updated Studio Display, a higher-end Studio Display XDR, AirPods Max 2, and now the Nike Powerbeats Pro 2. iPhone 17e features the same overall design as...
ios 26 4 pastel

iOS 26.4: Top 10 New Features Coming to Your iPhone

Friday March 20, 2026 2:44 pm PDT by
iOS 26.4 isn't the major update with new Siri features that we hoped for, but there are some useful quality of life improvements, and a little bit of fun with an AI playlist generator and new emoji characters. Playlist Playground - Apple Music has a Playlist Playground option that lets you generate playlists from text-based descriptions. You can include moods, feelings, activities, or...
iPhone 18 Pro Deep Red Feature

iPhone 18 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Wednesday March 18, 2026 7:39 am PDT by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are not expected to launch for another six months or so, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. It was initially reported that the iPhone 18 Pro models would have fully under-screen Face ID, with only a front camera visible in the top-left corner of the screen. However, the latest rumors indicate that only one Face ID component...

Top Rated Comments

61 months ago

Hopefully it brings it to Las Vegas, Nevada. I don’t think we have enough coverage around LV area. I have not seen the 5G+ symbol in a very long time now :(
Usually you will only find it in some kind of sports stadium or other populated venues like the city square.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️ Avatar
61 months ago
Hopefully it brings it to Las Vegas, Nevada. I don’t think we have enough coverage around LV area. I have not seen the 5G+ symbol in a very long time now :(
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Justin Cymbal Avatar
61 months ago
I haven't flown since January 2020 but plan on flying to Cleveland, OH this Thanksgiving

Since I now have the 5G iPhone 12, I'll be able to use the faster 5G so I hope more airports will get this in the future
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AppleFan91 Avatar
61 months ago
Had 5G UWB since launch - let me tell you, when you get to use it - it’s fast. I pulled 3100 down a couple weeks ago about 20 minutes south of Indianapolis.
(Verizon btw)

EDIT: sorry, found the screenshot. Over 3200 down.



Attachment Image
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
61 months ago

Don’t you have the option to turn off 5G?
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
61 months ago
now i can run my battery down even faster
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Related Apple News: Entertainment | Education | Mac | Technology | Sport