Forget Brady vs. Mahomes; big Super Bowl matchup is 5G showdown between T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T

The 2020-2021 NFL season comes to a conclusion this coming Sunday as Super Bowl 55 takes place at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. For the first time in Super Bowl history, one of the Super Bowl teams will be playing for the Championship on their home field. The game kicks off at 6:30pm ET and all three major U.S. carriers have upgraded their networks in the vicinity of the venue. 22,000 fans will be distancing themselves from each other inside the stadium; capacity is normally 66,000.

This morning, T-Mobile announced some of the upgrades it has made to its network in Tampa. For example, the carrier added Ultra Capacity mid-band 5G to the Tampa area. One of the things that differentiates the nation's second largest carrier from the competition is the 2.5GHz mid-band spectrum that makes up the middle tier of the wireless provider's 5G cake. It delivers faster download data speed than low-band spectrum and travels farther than zippy fast mmWave signals.

Tampa Bay not only has Tom Brady barking signals, it has signals of another kind: T-Mobile's Extended Range 5G. And with the addition of the Ultra Capacity 5G mid band service to the city, T-Mobile customers in the area with a compatible handset will be able to enjoy having Wi-Fi speeds in their hands. T-Mobile acquired the mid-band spectrum in the $26.5 billion purchase of Sprint and obtaining the airwaves was the true reason why the deal was done. Thanks to the mid-band spectrum, T-Mobile doesn't have to limit the availability of fast 5G service. As the carrier itself says, "At other wireless companies, the fastest 5G speeds come at the expense of coverage and are only available in small pockets of some cities. Tampa Bay is an example of T-Mobile’s winning multi-layer 5G strategy at work – broad 5G coverage combined with super-fast 5G speeds, an experience T-Mobile is quickly bringing to cities across the country."

The mid-band Ultra Capacity 5G is now available in downtown Tampa. Inside Raymond James Stadium, both mid-band and mmWave service will be providing those in attendance with fast 5G coverage. Inside the stadium and in the parking lot, T-Mobile's low band 600MHz signals, mid-band 2.5GHz spectrum, and high-band capabilities will be available to fans. And if you plan on watching the game from home, T-Mobile has you covered just like an All-Pro corner on a deep threat. In an email disseminated to us media types, the carrier said, "All these network upgrades in Tampa mean T-Mobile customers in and around the city will benefit from permanently boosted network capacity for years to come. And with more people watching the big game from home this year, T-Mobile will have customers across the U.S. covered with America’s largest and fastest 5G network. Whether streaming the game over T-Mobile’s network or watching ad replays on social media, T-Mobile customers will be able to do it all on the fastest 5G network in the U.S." Those traveling to Tampa by air will be happy to hear that Tampa International Airport is now covered with T-Mobile's mmWave Ultra Capacity 5G signals.

And for those fans of Super Bowl ads, we have some very good news. T-Mobile is advertising on the Super Bowl telecast once again. Last year's spots starred Anthony Anderson and his mom.

So what do we have to look forward to this coming Sunday. Well, we could see an explosive showdown between two of the top quarterbacks in the game in Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes (signal callers for Tampa and Kansas City, respectively). But as far as we're concerned, there will be a 5G battle between Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T. By next week, we might have an idea who won that contest and whether the winning carrier beat the spread.