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T-Mobile will ease marketing claims of “superior” 5G network

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mkeys@thedesk.net

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Wireless phone company T-Mobile has agreed to stop marketing its 5G network as “more reliable” than its competitors following a suggestion from the National Advertising Review Board and a complaint from rival Verizon.

The complaint stemmed from an online video featuring William Nye, better known as “Bill Nye the Science Guy,” in which he touted that T-Mobile’s decision to use mid-band spectrum made its 5G network more reliable than Verizon’s decision to use milli-meter wave spectrum.

“Other carriers have 5G signals that drop if you move two feet,” Nye said in the video, which was produced by T-Mobile.

Nye demonstrated Verizon’s supposedly inferior 5G service to T-Mobile’s by using mannequins. Verizon complained to the National Advertising Review Board (NARB), which is part of the not-for-profit Better Business Bureau.

The NARB said T-Mobile shouldn’t imply that Verizon’s 5G service “is so limited in any area as to cover only the space taken up by a single bench,” according to a decision handed down earlier this week. But the board said T-Mobile could continue to make claims that its network coverage is better than Verizon’s in future ads.

On Monday, a T-Mobile spokesperson said the company would abide by the board’s decision and affirmed its appreciation “that the panel agreed that T-Mobile can continue to advertise its superior 5G coverage without qualification.”

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About the Author:

Matthew Keys

Matthew Keys is the award-winning founder and editor of TheDesk.net, an authoritative voice on broadcast and streaming TV, media and tech. With over ten years of experience, he's a recognized expert in broadcast, streaming, and digital media, with work featured in publications such as StreamTV Insider and Digital Content Next, and past roles at Thomson Reuters and Disney-ABC Television Group.
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