Verizon said today that its nationwide 5G network is now operational and reaches 200 million people in 1,800 cities around the U.S. The company is using the name Verizon 5G Nationwide for the service, which according to the company “runs on lower spectrum bands than 5G Ultra Wideband.”
Also today, Verizon said it has expanded the availability of its 5G Ultra Wideband service, which is now available in parts of 55 cities. Until now, Verizon’s only 5G offering has been 5G Ultra Wideband, which operates in the high-frequency millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum band, which supports the highest speeds but over relatively short distances.
Verizon’s chief rivals AT&T and T-Mobile already have been able to claim nationwide coverage because they have deployed 5G in low-band and/or mid-band spectrum, which provides broader coverage. In comparison with Verizon, both of those carriers had a greater inventory of lower-frequency spectrum at the time those deployments were made.
Since then, Verizon has obtained a large amount of mid-band spectrum in the CBRS auction, in which the company was the biggest winner. In addition, the company is using dynamic spectrum sharing to enable its 5G Nationwide network to share lower-frequency spectrum with its previously deployed LTE network.
Vestberg Breaks the News
Hans Vestberg, CEO of Verizon Communications, made the announcements about Verizon 5G Nationwide and 5G Ultra Wideband at a launch event for the new iPhone, the first iPhone to have 5G capability.
“Until now, most people have been taking a wait-and-see approach to 5G,” said Vestberg. But with the 5G iPhone, he said, “5G just got real.”
Vestberg also noted that Verizon continues to enhance the capabilities of its 5G Ultra Wideband network, which now provides download speeds as high as 4 Gbps in “ideal” conditions. Upload speeds, he said, are as high as 200 Mbps.
In a press release, Verizon explained that the 5G Ultra Wideband boost was made possible using carrier aggregation.
“Verizon combined eight separate channels of mmWave spectrum to achieve record-setting multi-gigabit speeds in parts of some cities,” the release said. This technology will double the download speeds that 5G Ultra Wideband traditionally has provided, according to Verizon.
On the upload side, customers will see a boost in 5G Ultra Wideband speeds with two carrier aggregation, Verizon said.
The Verizon map of the new “nationwide” 5G is pretty darned sparse, with hundreds of miles in between the dots of coverage. I wonder if Verizon’s LTE in Rural America partners will be included in the nationwide 5G roll-out? It does not look like any of their service areas are included in this initial launch. Since the partners are using Verizon’s spectrum and equipment, I hope they will be launching 5G soon. Here in my home state, Verizon only services about 35% of the state natively, relying on partners to cover the rest.
I read the map differently; the dots are the Ultra Wideband 5G coverage areas. “Nationwide 5G” is most of the rest with LTE filling in the gaps.
But here’s the thing; “Nationwide 5G” isn’t ready 5G in the sense of the technology (i.e. frequencies). It’s funny because Verizon was behind the ad board chastising AT&T for their 5G Evolution crap. Well guess what, now that Verizon has the spectrum, “Nationwide 5G” is their version of 5Ge.
We are in San Antonio. There is Verizon here but I don’t know if it includes TV. We also have had AT&T Uverse for several years and I see where it is being dropped. We are also without CBS coverage since Tegna is fighting with AT&T. Since they have been at it for over a month or more and haven’t done a thing, all they seem to be doing is waiting for the other to cave in and neither multi-million dollar company will budge. I have two questions: is Verizon offering full TV coverage, and if so, what is the approximate cost, and second, will I have to change internet carriers meaning changing my e-mail address? If there is an answer to these questions, I would appreciate one. My wife and I are both seniors, 82 years and on social security, ( another total mess) so we must guard our expenses. Thank you.