Verizon shoots first in '5G ad war' against rival T-Mobile

Verizon put out a video Saturday stating its 4G network is more than twice as fast as T-Mobile's 5G network. The move comes less than 24 hours after T-Mobile released its 5G-focused Super Bowl commercial. Verizon's ad marks the first time it has specifically gone after rival T-Mobile’s 5G network since the “un-carrier” became the first company to offer nationwide 5G coverage. It’s also perhaps the first shot in the so-called “battle for 5G dominance,” where carriers T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T are poised to spend billions in advertising convincing consumers that their 5G network is best. Including Sprint, which T-Mobile is poised to acquire, the big four collectively spent $3 billion in measured media in 2018, according to the most recent figures from Ad Age Datacenter. Trading barbs So you couldn't find @Verizon's 5G either, @jennyslate?— T-Mobile (@TMobile) February 1, 2020 Andrew McKechnie, chief creative officer at Verizon, says the company didn't hold the video until Saturday in anticipation of T-Mobile releasing its Super Bowl spot early. Instead, he said Verizon is "educating" the public about what 5G can achieve, a message it intends to share in its Super Bowl ad on Sunday. "There is a lot of confusion in the marketplace," says McKechnie. "We’re constantly educating consumers on not only what 5G will do, but that not everything being called 5G has actual 5G performance." T-Mobile’s Big Game commercial has comedian Anthony Anderson switch his mother's cell phone plan from Verizon to T-Mobile because “it’s the only one to offer nationwide 5G.” Verizon has yet to roll out its nationwide 5G network. The company is testing its capabilities across more than a dozen cities, but it doesn’t have a “nationwide 5G network” just yet—a distinction T-Mobile is clearly taking advantage of ahead of the Big Game. One of the biggest 5G challenges facing both Verizon and AT&T is the type of frequencies they each have available to deploy coverage. Both can deliver ridiculous speeds, but their coverage is spotty. John Legere, T-Mobile CEO, yesterday put out a press release that included a link to a video showing how an umbrella could block out Verizon’s 5G signal. Meanwhile, each company is running a single Super Bowl ad tomorrow; AT&T isn’t airing a commercial while Sprint is sitting out after making four consecutive appearances. Verizon distributed its video on Saturday across social media platforms.

Verizon shoots first in '5G ad war' against rival T-Mobile

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