The recent additions bring Verizon’s 5G cities count to 13
Verizon announced today that is has officially turned on 5G in parts of New York City, Boise, Idaho and Panama City, Florida, bringing Verizon’s 5G cities count to 13. The recent additions give Verizon fairly large lead over Sprint, which has nine 5G cities, and T-Mobile US, which has six.
However, Verizon is still behind AT&T in terms of overall deployments; AT&T has 5G deployments in 21 cities. Whether or not this counts as a true lead is contested, though, as AT&T has made 5G initially available for businesses and developers rather than focusing on consumer devices and plans.
Similar to its other 5G networks, Verizon’s new locations use a millimeter-wave network, which offers an incredibly fast connection but also a very limited range.
Kyle Malady, Verizon’s executive vice president and chief technology officer commented on the company’s network rollout pattern: “Today our customers can expect to find our 5G Ultra Wideband network in business districts and public spaces where residents gather and tourists visit, and it will expand quickly to other areas as well.”
In New York City, users will be able to initially access Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband mobility service in parts of Manhattan including, Midtown, Financial District and Harlem; Downtown Brooklyn; Pelham Bay, Fordham Heights and Hunt’s Point in the Bronx; and around several landmarks throughout the city including Madison Square Garden, Bryant Park, the Theatre District on Broadway and the Manhattan entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel.
In Boise, 5G service will initially be concentrated in parts of the following neighborhoods: Downtown Boise, West Boise, West End, Meridian, Boise Junction around such landmarks as the Idaho State Capitol, St. Luke’s Boise Medical Center, Fort Boise Park, Capital City Event Center and Boise Town Square.
In Panama City, service will initially be concentrated in parts of the following areas: Downtown Panama City, Forest Park and Lower Grand Lagoon in Panama City Beach.
In a press release, Verizon referenced a promise it made last year to invest $25 million dollars in Panama City to aid the recovery from Hurricane Michael, adding that today’s launch of its 5G network in the city is the “first step in making good on the promise.”
Verizon has stated that users can expect average download speeds of 450 Mbps, with peak speeds of more than 1.5 Gbps and latency below 30 milliseconds. Initial tests revealed mixed speed results; however, tests performed in May produced consistent download speeds of 1.3 Gbps.
As expected, whenever a user moves outside of Verizon’s 5G coverage, they can expect to transition to the operator’s LTE network.
Verizon plans to establish 5G in over 30 cities by the end of 2019.
