5G available in Milwaukee -- if you're an AT&T or T-Mobile customer with a compatible device

Milwaukee has 5G. 

AT&T announced Friday that Milwaukee was one of its first markets to have a 5G network. A 5G device and a compatible plan are needed to use 5G service. Everyone else will have to wait. 

“I’m thrilled that our customers in the Milwaukee area get to be among the first to experience AT&T 5G,” Scott VanderSanden, president, AT&T Wisconsin, said in a news release. “We plan to rapidly expand our coverage and we’re on track to offer nationwide AT&T 5G service in the first half of 2020.”

T-Mobile lit up its 5G network Dec. 2 in U.S. cities including Milwaukee. It has 5G coverage across most of the Milwaukee metro. 

AT&T did not release the initial 5G coverage area. A map shows that by February it plans to have 5G capabilities in parts of Milwaukee but not in the heart of downtown. Surrounding communities to the west and north will also gain 5G by February, according to the map.

The advanced wireless network is accessed using 5G enabled devices. AT&T said customers with LTE devices in Milwaukee will benefit from upgrades made while adding the 5G network. 

Dallas-based AT&T has also rolled out 5G in Birmingham, Alabama; Indianapolis; Los Angeles; Pittsburgh; Providence, Rhode Island; Rochester, New York; and San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose, California. 

U.S Cellular announced in October it would have 5G coverage available in Milwaukee early next year. 

Sarah Hauer can be reached at shauer@journalsentinel.com or on Instagram @HauerSarah and Twitter @SarahHauer. Subscribe to her weekly newsletter Be MKE at jsonline.com/bemke.