Most U.S. carriers are planning to begin their 5G network rollout in 2019, and now we know that that includes U.S. Cellular.

U.S. Cellular has confirmed that it'll launch its 5G network in the second half of 2019. The carrier announced its plans along with the news that it's partnering with Ericsson on the rollout, with U.S. Cellular getting 3GPP standards-based 5G NR hardware and software from Ericsson over the course of multi-year agreement.

"We're constantly working to ensure that our customers have access to the latest technology available," said U.S. Cellular EVP and CTO Michael S. Irizarry. "We value our long-standing relationship with Ericsson and are impressed with their 5G-ready portfolio. We also know Ericsson is committed to meeting our deployment timeline in order to bring 5G to our customers in the second half of 2019." 

U.S. Cellular also says that Ericsson will help out in the carrier's network modernization from LTE to 5G, with Ericsson's 5G portfolio helping U.S. Cellular to expand coverage and future-proof its current network.