T-Mobile US has revealed why it invested nearly $3 billion in the FCC’s Auction 110, securing additional mid-band spectrum to fuel its 5G network capacity.

T-Mobile won an average of 21 MHz of mid-band spectrum in key areas home to 184 million people across the US, which it will deploy to add additional depth to its already strong Ultra Capacity 5G, delivering even faster speeds and greater performance.

“We’re already delivering customers the largest, fastest, and most reliable 5G network, and we’re working to make the best 5G network even better,” said Neville Ray, President of Technology at T-Mobile. “While Verizon and AT&T remain locked in a 5G race for second place, we’ll use this additional spectrum to take our 5G network to the next level.”

Mid-band spectrum is ideal for 5G, providing the perfect balance of capacity and coverage – meaning super-fast speeds over large areas. T-Mobile has been aggressively deploying mid-band spectrum it acquired in the merger with Sprint to bring 5G to customers.

T-Mobile will use the additional mid-band spectrum won in auction 110, and the C-band won last year to extend its 5G lead in key areas.

T-Mobile is the leader in 5G with a network that covers 310 million people and is nearly 2x larger than AT&T’s and nearly 5x larger than Verizon’s. 210 million of those people are covered by T-Mobile’s super-fast Ultra Capacity 5G – over 2x more people than Verizon’s Ultra Wideband and multitudes more than AT&T’s 5G+ (which is only available in a handful of cities).

T-Mobile plans to bring Ultra Capacity 5G to 260 million people this year and 300 million in 2023.