AT&T's Galaxy S10 5G comes to business buyers on June 17
AT&T is the second US carrier to get Samsung's fastest phone, but there's a catch.
AT&T will soon have its first 5G phone. The Samsung Galaxy S10 5G will come to the nation's second-largest network on June 17, but with a catch. Samsung's 5G phone will only be available for business customers. The phone, previously an exclusive to Verizon , will work with AT&T's millimeter wave 5G network (what the carrier calls "5G+"), which is currently live in certain parts of 19 cities.
The Galaxy S10 5G (256GB) will cost $1,000 on AT&T for what the company said is a limited time, the same price as the 4G LTE (or "5GE") Galaxy S10 Plus (128GB). Businesses will need to be on the AT&T Business Unlimited Preferred plan to tap into 5G+, which starts at $90 per month for a single line with AutoPay.
AT&T will also cap 5G speeds at 2Gbps. "As we roll out the smartphone it helps provide a consistent experience for businesses and early adopters," an AT&T spokesperson told CNET when asked why the company was capping speeds. "But just as important, this doesn't limit AT&T from introducing faster speeds in the future."
It's unclear when AT&T will make the S10 5G available to consumers.
AT&T's Galaxy S10 5G comes in silver.
Carries are rushing to deploy their 5G networks in a race for dominance that they hope will translate into more subscribers signing on to 5G. The faster data networks promise to eventually bring people 10x data speeds for much faster downloads. 5G will also pave the way for new uses on and off mobile phones , like real-time AR experiences and lag-free video calls. The networks hope that by beating their rivals to build out the largest coverage area with the fastest peak 5G speeds will give them an advantage over their competitors.
"Today we're bringing our first 5G smartphone to businesses seeking to be on the cutting edge," AT&T said in a statement provided to CNET when asked about a consumer launch. "We're providing the device to select developers in the AT&T Developer Program to help identify, define and unlock new 5G experiences. As the ecosystem evolves we'll introduce new 5G experiences and devices to consumers."
AT&T plans to launch its 5G+ mmWave network in at least 30 cities, though this network is different than the larger 5G network -- which will use a technology known as "sub-6" spectrum. The Galaxy S10 5G won't be able to tap into this network, though AT&T has announced plans for a second 5G Samsung phone later this year that will work with both mmWave and sub-6 versions of 5G.
Notably, AT&T's 5G network is currently limited to a single Netgear mobile hotspot. Unlike Verizon and Sprint, AT&T hasn't yet invited journalists to test its fastest network with live devices.
The S10 5G shares the same core features as the standard Galaxy S10 and S10 Plus, with a larger, 6.7-inch screen and additional depth-sensing front camera and rear cameras. In addition to it being available on AT&T and Verizon, both Sprint and T-Mobile have announced plans to carry the S10 5G.
You can follow along with AT&T and other carriers' 5G network rollout using a map from Ookla that updates weekly.
Update, June 13: Adds AT&T comment on capping 5G speeds.
