Verizon has confirmed plans to deploy a standards-based 5G mobile service in more than 30 US cities during the first half of this year. The target was revealed by company CEO Hans Vestberg at an investor conference in New York City. Mr Vestberg stopped short of confirming the exact locations but indicated that the new network will be powered by millimetre wave (mmWave) spectrum. The service will be branded ‘5G Ultra Wideband’, he added.
As previously reported by TeleGeography’s CommsUpdate, Verizon’s ‘5G Home’ fixed-wireless service went live on 1 October 2018 in selected parts of Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles and Sacramento. While industry standards body 3GPP has yet to certify 5G technology for use in hardware, software, chipsets and devices – that milestone is expected to occur in Release 16 – Verizon argued that the new network adheres to its own 5G TF (Technical Forum) proprietary standard.