AT&T 5G network reaches Boston and St. Louis

AT&T added more than a dozen cities on Wednesday to its faster 5G wireless network for consumers, as the carrier races rivals to extend the next generation of mobile connectivity across the country.

On Wednesday, AT&T said customers with 5G compatible phones can now get the faster connections in cities including Boston, St. Louis, and Dayton, OH (for a complete list of the new cities, see below). That brings AT&T’s 5G coverage, which kicked off in December, to a total of 32 cities for consumers. The carrier also has an even faster version of 5G available only for business customers in parts of 35 cities.

The mobile industry plans to spend tens of billions of dollars over the next few years in a race to build 5G networks, which generally cover only a small area compared to today’s 4G LTE networks. The 5G networks will eventually offer download speeds 10 to 100-times faster than 4G networks, enabling new applications such as realistic virtual reality games on the go and mobile sports broadcasts that let viewers choose which camera angle to watch. While AT&T’s consumer 5G network is in 32 cities now, Verizon reaches parts of 34 cities and Sprint is in nine. T-Mobile says it network is available in most of the country, reaching 200 million homes.

Customers must buy a 5G compatible phone to get the faster download speeds. AT&T currently offers just the Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ 5G for $1,300, but many more 5G-compatible phones are expected to hit the market in the coming months, including some with much lower prices.

Even with a 5G compatible phone, wireless customers won’t always get exceptional speeds. AT&T’s 5G network, which is using airwave bands similar to 4G networks, reaches only double or triple the speed of an average 4G connection. And, as Fortune found in testing the new networks, the highest speeds aren’t always available.

Full list of new AT&T 5G cities:

Bakersfield, Calif.
San Luis Obispo, Calif.
Santa Barbara, Calif.
Oxnard, Calif.
Modesto, Calif.
Liberty, Ga.
Wichita, Kan.
Boston, Mass.
New Bedford, Mass.
Frederick, Md.
St Louis, Mo.
Atlantic City, NJ.
Dayton, OH.