Verizon will offer 5G home internet service in the U.S. on October 1
U.S. telecom firm Verizon announced that it will begin to offer the 5G home internet service on October 1, the very first of its kind in the U.S.
5G technology is an advanced connectivity service with faster internet speed than the wireless 4G LTE, which is used by smartphones. Since 5G is faster, it can be used for home use, replacing the broadband internet service.
According to Verizon, its 5G wireless internet service will be delivered to homes by small cells instead of the wire infrastructure used today.
Verizon 5G Home can deliver an average network speed of 300Mbps, depending on the location, and the speed peaks at almost 1 Gbps (1,000 Mbps), says the company. 1 Gbps will allow users to download a 1GB file in eight seconds, whereas 300 Mbps will do it in 28 seconds. With the 5G home internet, homeowners should have no problems at all streaming 4K videos.
The 5G Home service offered by Verizon, however, isn’t the 5G technology as defined by the industry. The company implemented the technology before the industry had the standard. It will gradually switch to industry-standard 5G equipment as it expands to new markets.
Verizon’s 5G Home service will be provided for free in the first three months. After that, it will cost US$50 per month for existing Verizon customers and US$70 for new customers. Customers will also get YouTube TV subscription for free for three months and a free Apple TV 4K or Google Chromecast Ultra device.
The service will go live on October 1 in four U.S. cities – Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles and Sacramento.