T-Mobile's CEO told Bloomberg that the operator now counts more than 10 million customers on its 5G network.
The figure isn't necessarily a surprise considering T-Mobile has been selling a range of 5G phones for years now, and Sprint had been doing the same prior to T-Mobile's acquisition of the company.
Nonetheless, the figure is noteworthy considering US operators generally haven't provided much detail on their 5G customer metrics.
So how does T-Mobile stack up against its competitors? It's probably generally in the same ballpark, considering Verizon announced last week it has sold 10 million smartphones capable of connecting to its 5G "Ultra Wideband" network.
Verizon also forecast that, by the end of 2023, it expects fully 55% of its postpaid phone customers to own a 5G device, up from around 9% today.
To be clear, the 5G market in the US is dwarfed by some Asian countries. For example, China passed the 200 million mark in official 5G subscribers in December. South Korea, meanwhile, counts around 11 million 5G customers, representing roughly 16% of the country's 70 million total mobile users.
Finally, it's worth pointing out that operators' 5G customer counts only reflect the number of 5G devices they've managed to sell to their customers and not necessarily the addition of any extra revenues.
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— Mike Dano, Editorial Director, 5G & Mobile Strategies, Light Reading | @mikeddano
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