A couple of weeks ago, we shared with you the fact that the Samsung Galaxy S20 won’t work with Verizon’s ultra-fast 5G network. That is because the entry-level Galaxy S20 doesn’t support an ultra-fast millimeter-wave network like the one Verizon has. Only the Galaxy S20+ and S20 Ultra can work with the carrier. But good news, a compatible Galaxy S20 will be available in the second quarter (Q2). If you wish to just get the first variant, you can still use its 5G with other networks like T-Mobile and AT&T.
Verizon, together with other big companies like Qualcomm, Samsung, and Motorola, are working to make the most of the network’s live 5G service. They want to show off the 5G peak speeds that can reach up to 4.2GB per second. That is very fast and all four companies want to demonstrate the benefits of their technologies.
Data sessions are more efficient now because multiple channels are combined, thanks to carrier integration technology. The companies we mentioned combined eight channels of mmWave spectrum to achieve the speed first on a flagship phone from Motorola. The unnamed Motorola flagship tells us the company is indeed working on a flagship offering.
Verizon‘s 5G Ultra Wideband network will continue to expand. All things happening now are just a taste of “what 5G can do”. Verizon’s Senior VP of Technology Planning Adam Koeppe said, “We continue to innovate and introduce advanced technologies on our 5G network that will help us reach never-before-seen mobile capabilities and create new and exciting use cases across the consumer and enterprise landscape. Using 5G carrier aggregation, we are able to achieve unprecedented mobile speeds and bring the massive bandwidth available with mmWave spectrum to life.”
This 8-channel carrier aggregation using mmWave will be ready on Verizon 5G network this year. A trial has been done already in Texas, combining the 800 MHz of 28 GHz band spectrum with the help of a 5G NR 28Ghz Access Unit by Samsung Network.
Samsung Electronics America’s Networks Division Vice President Magnus Ojert said: “With industry collaborations like the one we have with Verizon, Samsung continues to advance 5G to its full potential. This latest milestone demonstrates the transformative capability of Samsung’s industry-leading 5G technology coupled with Verizon’s mmWave spectrum to deliver unprecedented performance across Verizon 5G subscribers. This trial also shows the power of the Samsung Networks’ 5G NR 28GHz Access Unit, the smallest integrated mmWave radio in the market.”
Meanwhile, Qualcomm is equally excited about the collaboration. Business Development VP Joe Glynn said, “5G mmWave technology is set to expand significantly this year and poised to introduce new potential use cases for consumers and businesses through superb connectivity speeds and low latency. We are happy to collaborate with Verizon, Samsung, and Motorola to advance 5G mmWave in driving multi-gigabit speeds and enhanced network capacity.”
