Verizon has called on the mobile industry to not use the term 5G for services until they use actual 5G hardware and radio standards. The operator’s call follows reports that AT&T customers have seen a 5Ge network symbol appear already on the their phones. The 5Ge refers to 5G Evolution, AT&T’s name for its LTE-Advanced upgrade.

Verizon said “the potential to over-hype and under-deliver on the 5G promise is a temptation that the wireless industry must resist”, or risk alienating customers. The operator said the industry should commit to labeling something 5G “only if new device hardware is connecting to the network using new radio technology to deliver new capabilities”. Verizon is already committed to this, saying it will not call its 4G network a 5G network “if customers don’t experience a performance or capability upgrade that only 5G can deliver”.

Verizon took out full-page ads in major newspapers such as the New York Times and Washington Post to underline its standpoint. T-Mobile also took to Twitter to criticise AT&T, posting a video of someone putting a 9G sticker on the LTE logo of an iPhone with the text ‘I didn’t realise it was this easy, brb updating’.

AT&T announced in December plans to launch the 5Ge network logo on selected phones. The name will appear when customers connect to one of the upgraded cell towers. For its actual 5G mobile service, only available to select customers with mobile broadband for the moment, the operator uses the logo 5G+.