Verizon working on 5G network, claims networks will be operational in 30 U.S. cities by end of 2019

Verizon’s 5G is underway.

The company on Thursday stated that it’s working on deploying 5G networks, in one form or another, to 30 U.S. cities by the end of 2019. This serves as a hint that 5G technology won’t appear in iPhone handsets until 2020.

“It’s just gonna be a total different experience in speed and throughput than you have ever seen before,” CEO Hans Vestberg said during an investor meeting.

Verizon is said to be planning to deploy millimeter wave radios, promising to deliver true standards-based 5G, as opposed to “5G E,” which is considered a variant of 4G networking.

Verizon didn’t identify cities by name, nor did it specify any kind of coverage metric in regards to what constitutes a deployment. While it’s likely to target major urban areas whenever possible, that could be limited by deployment complexity.

It’s also thought that the first elements of Verizon’s 5G network should be up by mid-2019. Verizon has partnered with Samsung as the exclusive launch partner for the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G handset.

AT&T and T-Mobile are also said to be working on 5G deployments, albeit neither is expected to make much progress by the end of 2019 given the lack of 5G-ready devices on the market.

Apple is thought to be waiting until 2020 to ship 5G-capable iPhones, which are thought to include an Intel 5G chip.

Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

Via AppleInsider and The Verge