Verizon continues to expand its mobile Internet coverage. And while the carrier is still pushing the 4G LTE network even after six years, it’s now working on 5G connectivity. It may be too early to announce since 5G won’t be commercially ready in the country until 2020 but at least we know that Verizon is considering it. Of course, it’s the next step after 4G LTE and it might take a while before the technology is fully working.
Verizon is pushing forward with this project because it will definitely change our digital lives. Year 2020 may be five years from now but let’s expect dozens of significant innovations in technology before then.
For this 5G project, Verizon has partnered with big tech names like Samsung, Qualcomm, Nokia, Cisco, Ericsson, and Alcatel-Lucent. Right now, the company is doing some trial 5G network environments in San Francisco and Massachusetts for testing starting 2016. This is something to look forward to because 5G is said to be 50 times faster than 4G LTE of today. That’s a really huge leap but it will take a while.
There’s Google Fiber with blazing fast Internet speed already but 5G is said to be even faster. It’s hard to imagine super fast mobile Internet but let’s just say, you can download one full-length movie within seconds. With this development, we won’t have a hard time connecting to the web when the “Internet of Things” are applied in full force.
Aside from Verizon Wireless, other big companies are also testing and working on 5G. This includes Samsung and Huawei. South Korea is perhaps the only country that’s serious in setting up 5G as standard before the 2018 Winter Olympics. This effort by Verizon is expected to “accelerate the rate of innovation and introduce new partners” in the US. Most of similar efforts and developments come from Asian companies and operators so this can be exciting according to Rima Qureshi, chief strategy officer at Ericsson.
VIA: USA TODAY
