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Verizon says it will have 5G service in five cities by the end of next year

Verizon says it will have 5G service in five cities by the end of next year

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Actual details to come at ‘a later date’

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Chris Welch

Verizon is getting closer to releasing its first commercial 5G network, with the company announcing today that it plans on launching 5G in three to five cities by the end of next year. The rollout starts with Sacramento, California sometime in the second half of 2018.

There isn’t much more information beyond the location and general launch window — Verizon isn’t even commenting as to what technologies it’ll be using or what speeds to expect. So we don’t actually know yet if this is something like AT&T’s fake “5G Evolution” network, which saw the company repurpose existing technology from the LTE-Advanced and LTE-Advanced Pro standards in the name of higher speeds, or an actual, real 5G deployment of technology from the actual 5G NR standard.

Verizon does say in its press release that the rollout is based on the company’s “confidence in new technology powered by millimeter-wave spectrum,” which does lend some hope that it’s the real McCoy. Sacramento makes sense as a first city for Verizon, though, given that it was one of the 11 cities that the company had started initial 5G test on earlier this year. Details on the other four candidate cities, along with more information on the initial Sacramento rollout, are coming “at a later date.”