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AT&T Might Finally Ditch '5GE' Marketing Following National Advertising Board Recommendation [Updated]

Following a challenge from T-Mobile, the National Advertising Review Board today announced (https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/after-appeal-narb-recommends-att-discontinue-5g-evolution-and-5g-evolution-the-first-step-to-5g-claims-301062687.html) that it has recommended that AT&T discontinue its "5G Evolution" or "5GE" marketing claims (https://www.att.com/5g/consumer/5g-evolution/), noting that they may be misleading to consumers.





(https://images.macrumors.com/article-new/2020/05/5ge-iphone-label.jpg)


"5G Evolution" is the branding that AT&T has been using in areas where the latest 4G LTE technologies like three-way carrier aggregation, 4x4 MIMO, and 256-QAM are available. Since the release of iOS 12.2, AT&T has been displaying a "5GE" label (https://www.macrumors.com/guide/5ge/) in place of "LTE" on iPhones that connect to its network in areas where those technologies are available.





In a statement shared with MacRumors, AT&T said that it "respectfully disagrees" with the decision, but will comply as a "supporter of the self-regulatory process." AT&T added that it is not currently using "5G Evolution" branding in its advertising, but it did not confirm whether it will stop using the "5GE" label on smartphones.

AT&T respectfully disagrees with the reasoning and result reached by the Panel majority. AT&T's customers nationwide continue to benefit from dramatically superior speeds and performance that its current network provides. As a supporter of the self-regulatory process, however, AT&T will comply with the NARB's decision.

AT&T has since launched its actual 5G network (https://www.macrumors.com/2019/12/13/att-launches-5g-network/) in select cities in the United States. The first 5G-enabled iPhones are expected to launch later this year.





<strong>Update 1:29 p.m.</strong>: AT&T has told LightReading (https://www.lightreading.com/5g/atandt-to-halt-5g-evolution-advertising-but-the-icon-will-remain/a/d-id/759806) that it does not plan to remove the 5GE icon from phones because it is not considered advertising and thus falls outside of the NARB's recommendation.

But AT&T said the NARB's recommendation only applies to its advertising and therefore will not affect the one element that really matters: Its service icon.

<div class="linkback">Tags: AT&amp;T (https://www.macrumors.com/guide/att/), 5GE (https://www.macrumors.com/guide/5ge/)</div>
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Source: AT&amp;T Might Finally Ditch '5GE' Marketing Following National Advertising Board Recommendation [Updated] (https://www.macrumors.com/2020/05/20/att-might-finally-ditch-5ge/)