Verizon's '5G' home broadband to launch on Oct. 1, free Apple TV 4K included
Verizon is making good on promises to deliver what it touts as the world's first commercial 5G deployment, a home broadband service called Verizon 5G Home, announcing on Tuesday that installations will begin on Oct. 1.
Built on Verizon's "proprietary 5G standard," Verizon 5G Home promises at-home speeds of around 300 megabits per second -- up to nearly 1 gigabit per second in some areas -- with no data caps, according to the company. Initial rollout is slated for parts of Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles and Sacramento.
Though the deployment is limited to home networks, it marks an important first step toward wide adoption of mobile 5G. To claim first-to-market bragging rights, Verizon is not using an industry standard flavor of 5G in the October rollout. It is this decision that presumably restricts Verizon to a fixed position network; the telco's proprietary 5G TF standard can only communicate with specialized devices, in this case 5G Home routers.
The company plans to transition to industry-standard 3GPP 5G NR technology in subsequent installations, a move that will enable rapid expansion into new coverage areas and later enable a move into mobile 5G.
"To be first, we encouraged others in the ecosystem to move more quickly at every step," said Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg. "We appreciate the partnership of network equipment makers, device manufacturers, software developers and chip makers in reaching this critical milestone. The entire wireless industry gets to celebrate."
Customers can sign up for Verizon 5G Home starting Thursday morning through a dedicated website aptly named FirstOn5G.com. These "First On 5G" users will be eligible for three free months of service, after which Verizon Wireless customers with qualifying smartphone plans pay $50 per month, while non-customers pay $70 per month.
As announced in August, Verizon is further sweetening the deal by handing out free Apple TV 4K or Google Chromecast Ultra devices at installation, and is paring those streaming boxes with three free months of YouTube TV.
"First on 5G" adopters also receive free white glove installation and equipment, including router upgrades in 2019, specialized customer service and first crack at mobile 5G devices when they become available.
Built on Verizon's "proprietary 5G standard," Verizon 5G Home promises at-home speeds of around 300 megabits per second -- up to nearly 1 gigabit per second in some areas -- with no data caps, according to the company. Initial rollout is slated for parts of Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles and Sacramento.
Though the deployment is limited to home networks, it marks an important first step toward wide adoption of mobile 5G. To claim first-to-market bragging rights, Verizon is not using an industry standard flavor of 5G in the October rollout. It is this decision that presumably restricts Verizon to a fixed position network; the telco's proprietary 5G TF standard can only communicate with specialized devices, in this case 5G Home routers.
The company plans to transition to industry-standard 3GPP 5G NR technology in subsequent installations, a move that will enable rapid expansion into new coverage areas and later enable a move into mobile 5G.
"To be first, we encouraged others in the ecosystem to move more quickly at every step," said Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg. "We appreciate the partnership of network equipment makers, device manufacturers, software developers and chip makers in reaching this critical milestone. The entire wireless industry gets to celebrate."
Customers can sign up for Verizon 5G Home starting Thursday morning through a dedicated website aptly named FirstOn5G.com. These "First On 5G" users will be eligible for three free months of service, after which Verizon Wireless customers with qualifying smartphone plans pay $50 per month, while non-customers pay $70 per month.
As announced in August, Verizon is further sweetening the deal by handing out free Apple TV 4K or Google Chromecast Ultra devices at installation, and is paring those streaming boxes with three free months of YouTube TV.
"First on 5G" adopters also receive free white glove installation and equipment, including router upgrades in 2019, specialized customer service and first crack at mobile 5G devices when they become available.
Comments
Doesn't matter the size of the cap, your data use will eventually catch up and surpass it. 3 people streaming 4k video in different rooms at a decent data rate could make even a 10TB cap seem small.
You mean besides the fact they’re working with Intel on 5G modems for future iPhones?
I’ll put that on the list below “military intelligence” and “stable genius”.
https://www.huawei.com/en/press-events/news/2018/2/HUAWEI-TubeStar-GSMA-AWARD
Individual antennas for TVs on blocks of flats were banned 20 years ago here to be replaced by collective antennas. There was a time that just looking out over the cityscape would present you with a sea of antennas, for example. Ten years ago carriers were obliged to share their infrastructure to avoid a proliferation of cell towers.
I would hope that similiar solutions to the Huawei option would be part of a US rollout.