What AT&T C-Band Adds for User Experience

As a purely practical matter, this is why C-band spectrum matters for AT&T and Verizon: without more mid-band spectrum, 5G speeds cannot be increased while at the same time achieving wide coverage. 

In tests, PCMag found that AT&T’s initial tranche of C-band spectrum boosted 5G speeds 300 percent, from around 100 Mbps up to 300 Mbps. 

source: PCMag

You’ll notice something else: 4G speeds prior to C-band activation were the same as 5G. That explains why many consumers have not experienced any difference between 4G and 5G. 

But mid-band spectrum really does make a difference.