AT&T offers Samsung 5G phones to businesses only

AT&T will begin selling Samsung’s Galaxy S10 5G smartphones next week, but it’s only making the device available to business customers and developers.

 

Subscribers to its Business Unlimited Preferred can use the 5G phone on AT&T’s millimeter wave (mmWave) 5G network, which AT&T calls “5G+.” The network is currently only live in “very limited” parts of 19 cities, AT&T said. It aims to expand the network “to reach parts of at least 30 cities,” though it didn't offer a timeline. AT&T is offering the 256 GB version of the phone for $1,000 for a limited time, which is the same price as the 128GB LTE Galaxy S10+.

 

The launch fits into AT&T’s stated wider strategy of offering 5G to enterprise customers initially, while its competitors offer the service to consumers.

 

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“Businesses are leading the charge on the nation’s first mobile 5G network,” said Mo Katibeh, chief marketing officer for AT&T Business, in a statement. “With mobile 5G a core tenet of our 5G strategy for businesses, we’re making this amazing new device available so that the business community can begin creating new experiences and drive the next industrial revolution through unprecedented mobile capabilities.”

 

Samsung’s Galaxy S10 5G is expected to roll out to more carriers in the coming weeks now that its exclusivity period with Verizon has ended. The phone will be the first out-of-the-box 5G capable phone sold by AT&T.

 

Samsung’s Galaxy Fold, meanwhile, is still in murky waters. AT&T sent out notices this week alerting customers that the carrier was cancelling pre-orders for the device, and is giving out $100 promotion cards to customers who had placed an order, according to a report in Tom’s Guide.

 

Samsung said in May it had resolved the reported issues with the foldable phone, and has promised to announce a new launch date “in the coming weeks,” though the company has made no mention of the device since then. Best Buy also recently decided to cancel pre-orders for the phone.