Verizon Wireless has recently revealed that it is planning to begin its 5G pilot program in 11 specific markets across the United States within the first six months of the year. The 11 markets will include Ann Arbor in Michigan, Atlanta in Georgia, Bernardsville in New Jersey, Brockton in Massachusetts, Dallas in Texas, Denver in Colorado, Houston in Texas, Miami in Florida, Sacramento in California, Seattle in Washington, and Washington, DC. According to the Big Red, the success of this pilot program should pave the way for a full commercialization of its gigabit broadband offering to residences and commercial establishments by way of a wireless 5G network.
Some may remember that back in January of this year, the biggest wireless carrier in the US had already set up 5G equipment for fixed wireless services in over 10 cities in America. At that time, however, Verizon Wireless never mentioned those 10 cities by name. But with the most recent announcement, subscribers of the Big Red now have a specific idea where the 5G pilot program will be launched.
Moreover, the Big Red has confirmed in a previous occasion that its equipment may not conform with the initial standards for 5G wireless services set by the 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project). But if need be, Verizon might find itself upgrading its physical equipment in order to align with the soon to be finalized 5G standard established by the 3GPP.
In the later part of 2015, Verizon Wireless established the 5G Technology Forum (5GTF) together with various tech firms in order to set up a consistent and standard platform for the Big Red’s 28/39 GigaHertz fixed wireless access tests and roll outs. For this year’s 5G pilot program, Verizon has acquired the resources of Samsung and Ericsson, particularly in providing the needed network infrastructure for all the 11 cities mentioned earlier. Meanwhile, Qualcomm and Intel will be supplying the tech in support of the pilot program.
In its press release statement, Verizon Wireless has also stated that its partners in its 5GTF ecosystem are already preparing to fully commercialize processors, infrastructure products, and consumer gadgets based on the 5GTF standard. To date, chips are becoming more available through the Big Red’s 5GTF partners, while joint 5G related efforts are under way with the help of international telecom entities based in countries such as Japan, South Korea, and Canada, all working to achieve a unified objective -- to make 5G easily accessible to all end users.
from
https://www.wirefly.com/blog/news/verizon-plans-start-5g-pilot-11-us-markets-first-half-year