The era of 5G technology is officially here.
Verizon has begun to activate its new home Internet service that runs atop its next-generation 5G wireless network, the company said Monday.
The new service, 5G Home, was switched on in select parts of four cities – Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles and Sacramento – advertising download speeds of about 300 Mbps. It marks the first commercial use of a 5G network anywhere in the world, according to the company. The service costs $70 a month, or $50 a month when combined with a $30 Verizon cellphone plan.
Unlike traditional residential internet, which comes into your home by a fixed wire, Verizon’s new service works by sending web content over a mobile data connection to a wireless router in your home. It takes advantage of newly unlocked airwaves that can support large amounts of data transfers at high speeds and low lag.
The company claims that 5G technology, once it becomes available on smartphones, could lead to mobile data downloads that are 20 times faster than its predecessor 4G LTE, allowing users to download high-definition videos in seconds. Other industry groups predict speeds of up to 1,000 Mbps or more.
But while 5G could help speed up your everyday mobile data experience, industry officials say its true benefits have to do with facilitating entirely new technologies such as self-driving cars and remote medicine that current mobile data standards can’t support.
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