We're getting close to the deployment of 5G in the U.S., and in the run-up to carriers' rollouts, they're running tests and reaching milestones. Today Verizon revealed that it recently completed a 5G milestone of its own.
Verizon says that it teamed up with Nokia to complete the first over the air, end-to-end data transmission on a commercial 3GPP 5G New Radio (NR) network. The transmission was completed in Washington D.C. and was sent using commercially-deployed Nokia radio equipment and Verizon's millimeter wave spectrum and 5G network core to a Nokia test van.
“The cadence and frequency of these significant milestone achievements from Verizon and Nokia show just how quickly we’re taking the promise of 5G technology from the lab to the field and to the marketplace where our customers will ultimately use this revolutionary technology,” said Bill Stone, Verizon's VP of Technology Development and Planning. “We said Verizon will be first to 5G, and our latest milestone moves us closer to fulfilling that promise.”
Verizon is planning to roll out a 5G residential broadband service in Los Angeles, Sacramento, Houston, and Indianapolis later this year. Mobile 5G service is expected to launch in 2019. Verizon recently launched the Moto Z3 with a 5G Moto Mod that'll let you hop onto its 5G network when that goes live, and there's also a 2000mAh battery in the 5G Moto Mod so that the Mod doesn't sap your Moto Z3's battery while accessing the 5G coverage.
