Verizon has expanded access to its high-band 5G network in parts of Sacramento, Seattle and Pensacola, with customers in parts of Sacramento also receiving access to the carrier’s 5G Home Internet offering that was first launched in 2018.
Kyle Malady, Verizon’s CTO, characterized the carrier’s 5G expansion as “aggressive,” adding, “Customers in these cities can now take advantage of revolutionary, game-changing technology, with access to download speeds and bandwidth that can power the future of wireless and home broadband applications and solutions.”
Verizon’s 5G service branded “5G Ultra Wideband” uses millimeter wave spectrum to support ultra-low lag and higher throughputs compared to what 4G can achieve. Its “5G Nationwide” coverage runs on lower spectrum bands than 5G Ultra Wideband and uses Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS). Verizon said that when customers with 5G-enabled devices move outside of mmWave coverage areas, their devices will fall back to DSS-based 5G (depending on a given device’s spectrum support).
At the end of 2020, Verizon announced that it has successfully extended its DSS-based 5G coverage to 230 million people. The carrier is also making headlines for its massive — more than $44 million — investment in the recent C Band auction, where it won 3,511 licenses in all of the 406 geographic Partial Economic Areas that make up the United States. The substantial investment strongly signals that midband spectrum will soon become a key component of Verizon’s growing network.
