T-Mobile US CTO Neville Ray (pictured) launched a scathing attack on 5G claims by rivals AT&T and Verizon, while warning mmWave-based networks would never reach rural America.

In a blog on the company’s website, Ray said 5G was at the “height of the hype curve” with a lot of misinformation being spread.

He pointed specifically to Verizon’s 5G launch earlier this month, which Ray believes contradicts claims of a first made by the operator in 2018, and AT&T’s announcement of network availability without supplying devices so people can use it.

“They’re both obsessed with claiming first[s], but at the end of the day, it’s meaningless for consumers. In both cases, claiming first was more important to them than providing a good experience,” he said.

Despite T-Mobile talking-up its own 5G prospects a number of times over the last year, Ray said its goal was not “headlines or buzz or bragging rights”, adding “T-Mobile is going to continue to be the adult in the room on 5G.”

The operator plans to deploy 5G across several spectrum bands, which it believes will offer wider coverage than focusing on mmWave. Ray added mmWave had great potential for speed and capacity, but major limitations over long distances and lack of penetration through a variety of materials.

He added 5G using mmWave would not scale beyond small urban hotspots and never reach rural America at all, noting Verizon’s “mmWave-only plan is only for the few.”