October 1st, 2018 will be remembered as the date when the first 5G broadband network went live, with the telecommunications giant Verizon launching its 5G network in parts of Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles and Sacramento. The company confirmed that it will be expanding its coverage shortly, pending the installation of new standards-compliant equipment.
“The world’s first commercial 5G service is here. We’ve formed incredible partnerships with many of the world’s leading technology companies, the international technical standards bodies, public officials, developers and our own customers to drive the 5G ecosystem forward, faster than most had predicted. And now, actual customers. It’s been an incredible journey…and we’re just at the starting line,” the president of Verizon Wireless, Ronan Dunne, expressed enthusiastically.
The very first user on this network, a resident of Houston, Clayton Harris, became one of the early adopters by setting up a “5G Home” service, an ultra-fast , first ever 5G-based home internet. Clearly, Verizon is delivering on their commitment to rapidly provide this cutting-edge technology to their regular consumers.
“We spent the last three years driving the industry to bring 5G to consumers as soon as possible,” continued Dunne. “We developed early standards that allowed the industry and hardware and software manufacturers to build solutions more quickly. As a result of this initiative and ongoing collaboration, we will rapidly deliver the promise of 5G to our customers.”
While Verizon has already achieved a lot of “firsts” in 5G development and deployment with partners such as Ericsson, Qualcomm, Intel and Samsung, the 5G broadband network is surely the most prominent one, enabling home users to take the first steps in exploring the possibilities of 5G. This significant milestone has now raised the expectations for the company to be the first mass provider of mobile 5G services.
