Verizon booth at Mobile Wold Congress Americas 2018 show in Los Angeles (Image Source: Bevin Fletcher)
Verizon’s 5G in-home broadband service will go live in four cities starting Oct. 1, with support from Samsung Electronics’ FCC-certified 5G tech.
Preorders for the service, dubbed Verizon 5G Home, started Sept. 13 for customers in Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles and Sacramento.
Samsung is providing a compact 5G home and outdoor router, 5G Radio (Access Unit, Digital unit-integrated type), and virtualized radio solutions.
“Collaborating with Verizon on 5G – from pre-standard specification development to trials across the U.S. and now to the delivery of their first 5G commercial network – has been a rewarding and exciting experience,” says Magnus Ojert, VP of Networks Division at Samsung Electronics America, in a statement. “Verizon’s new service offering will provide consumers in the four 5G Home cities with ultra-fast and reliable service via our 5G solutions.”
Verizon’s 5G residential broadband service is free for three months and then available for $50 per month for Verizon wireless customers, and $70 per month for everyone else.
Customers can expect typical network speeds of about 300 Mbps, and peak speeds of nearly 1 Gbps, with no data caps.
There are no additional hardware costs, and customers get free installation and equipment. Since Verizon’s initial service is built on its proprietary 5G TF standard, routers will need to be upgraded to the 3GPP 5G NR standard next year, but will be free to customers as they become available.
Verizon says its service is also built on the operator’s 5G Ultra Wideband network that utilizes a large deployment of small cells, millimeter wave spectrum bands, as well as deep fiber resources.
“To deliver the full potential of 5G, a wireless network provider must have three fundamental assets: deep fiber resources, a large deployment of small cells and critical spectrum holdings. That’s Ultra Wideband,” says Kyle Malady, Verizon’s chief technology officer, in a statement. “We will deliver a revolutionary 5G experience that will change how people live, work and play.”
The operator says it will “rapidly expand” its residential broadband coverage once new standards-compliant equipment from vendors can be installed, with mobile 5G service following soon after.
Customers outside of the initial launch cities can still sign up to become “First On 5G” members and receive updates about when the service is coming to their area.
“’First On 5G’ Members get early access to Verizon 5G Home and are first in line for new services, including 5G mobility,” says Tami Erwin, Verizon’s wireless operations leader. “You want an opportunity to cut the cord with your cable company? Now you can cut the cord and go cable free, while getting fast, reliable home internet service over the hottest new technology.”
Verizon is also offering a free 3-month subscription to YouTube TV and a free Apple TV 4K or Google Chromecast Ultra device when its new 5G broadband service is installed.
