The Federal Communications Commission announced this week a $9 billion subsidy program to bring 5G to rural parts of the country, coinciding with T-Mobile’s 5G nationwide rollout.

T-Mobile is advertising its 5G as having “ultra wideband … with massive capacity … and ultrafast speeds,” which sounds incredible. Maybe too incredible.

A T-Mobile spokesperson told reporters those ultrafast speeds are only going to be 20% faster on average than what customers have now. 

“5G is 80% marketing and 20% technology,” said Gigi Sohn, a senior fellow at the Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy. “The hype around this technology is enormous, and also the hype around needing to win a so-called race around 5G.” 

Telecom companies and politicians are pushing the claim that the U.S. needs to beat China to 5G. But Phillip Berenbroick, policy director at the telecom advocacy group Public Knowledge, said a lot of the country isn’t wired with the fiber optic cable needed for 5G.

More at Marketplace.