2019 is expected to be the year of 5G, but AT&T has taken some shortcuts to stake its claim of launching the first 5G service in the U.S. market in 2018.

The carrier is expected to soon begin deploying a “5G E” icon on Android smartphones that receive its fastest network speeds in the market, Fierce Wireless reported Friday. The icon represents its 5G Evolution network; however, the technology offered under this name include those that boost the speeds of 4G LTE networks but are not yet at the expected speeds for 5G networks.

AT&T’s 5G launch is a stepping stone

AT&T seems to consider 5G Evolution the transition between current technologies and the 5G networks expected for the coming year, as it notes most of its markets won’t power 5G until 2019. The locations slated for AT&T’s 5G networks in 2018 will likely run booster technologies, including carrier aggregation, 4×4 MIMO, LAA, and 256 QAM under the name 5G evolution.

The carrier announced its 5G mobile network is live in 12 cities as of December 21, including Atlanta, Charlotte, N.C., Dallas, Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Fla., Louisville, Ky., Oklahoma City, New Orleans, Raleigh, N.C., San Antonio and Waco, Texas. However, these cities won’t have access to 5G networks directly to their smartphones. AT&T will essentially run a public beta, offering select businesses and consumers a free Netgear Nighthawk 5G hotspot and service for 90 days before the network rolls out its official hardware and service pricing in spring 2019.

From there AT&T customers can purchase the 5G hotspot for $499 and pair it with a 15GB data plan for $70 a month. AT&T also plans to deploy its 5G network to other cities during the first half of 2019, including Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Nashville, Orlando, San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose, Calif. There is no word on whether the cities will get official 5G network speeds at that point or if they will continue to run on 4G LTE boosting networks under 5G Evolution branding.

5G in the U.S. is definitely a 2019 thing

Currently, most mobile devices for U.S. markets don’t have the hardware support to pair with 5G network speeds, making AT&T’s claims all the more far-fetched.

5G devices to release in North America will likely turn the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chip, however many of these devices aren’t expected to release until mid-2019, after the official 5G network rollout on all major carriers. Several international brands have begun to unveil their Snapdragon 855 powered devices, and even those are slated for early 2019 market releases.

Fierce Wireless noted that preempted network branding is common in the wireless space, with AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint calling older technologies 4G before the speed standard had truly been established. Verizon similarly attempted a grab for having the first 5G smartphone on the U.S. market by releasing the Motorola Moto Z3 smartphone in August. However, 5G Moto Mod attachment that would enable 5G network speeds on the device won’t be available until early 2019.

Even with the current optics, AT&T will have to eventually deliver the 5G speeds it has promised consumers.