Twin Cities latest to get Verizon’s mmWave 5G Home service
As U.S. carriers invest in both 5G network expansions and new services built on the network, both T-Mobile US and Verizon made announcements today with the former lighting up its 2.5 GHz spectrum in 121 additional markets and the latter using its millimeter wave 5G network to provide fixed wireless access home internet service in two new markets.
T-Mobile has in place nationwide standalone 5G using its 600 MHz spectrum, and is adding a nice mix of coverage and capacity by layering in 2.5 GHz 5G using spectrum that came with the Sprint merger.
T-Mo said 2.5 GHz 5G is now available in 121 more cities and towns bringing the total to 210 markets covered by mid-band. The carrier reports average download speeds around 300 Mbps with peak speeds in the 1 Gbps range.
T-Mobile execs, for several years now, have dinged Verizon’s millimeter wave-based 5G approach for its limited reach, and VP of Technology continued that in a statement: “It would be easy to deliver fast speeds are only available less than 1% of the time, like Verizon, but T-Mobile’s strategy is different. With more low and mid-band spectrum than anyone in the U.S. and dedicated airwaves for 5G, only T-Mobile is delivering 5G with both coverage and speed.”
Ray has used a layer-cake analogy to describe T-Mobile’s 5G strategy. The 600 MHz low-band offering is the foundation of coverage; 2.5 GHz provides a balance of coverage and capacity; and millimeter wave is geared toward urban cores and other areas aligned with the limited propagation of high-band frequencies.
Verizon expands 5G Home FWA service to total of eight cities
Verizon’s initial go-to-market with millimeter wave 5G was a fixed wireless access home internet service in late 2018. While the carrier has expanded its mobile 5G footprint more rapidly, it has steadily built out 5G Home as compatible consumer premise equipment catches up.
In the latest, 5G Home is now available in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, bringing the offering to a total of eight markets. The latest iteration of the CPE is called the 5G Internet Gateway, a combined CPE and router that uses Qualcomm’s antenna module, according to reporting from PCMag’s Sascha Segan.
Qualcomm has led the market with its millimeter wave antenna module for both mobile devices and CPE devices. The latest iteration from Qualcomm extends the range of millimeter wave signals compared to earlier generations of the technology and supports a total channel size of 800 megahertz. With 5G Home, Verizon has moved from a white glove technician installation to a self-install model.
Frank Boulben, Verizon senior vice president of consumer marketing and products, called the new CPE a “game-changer for our customers. With people spending more time at home during these challenging times, the expansion of 5G Home Internet to new markets with new and improved hardware will provide customers with the flexibility and reliability to enjoy more digital experiences and increased productivity from the comfort of their home.”
Verizon said 5G Home will be available in 10 markets by the end of the year.
