Verizon’s 5G broadband Internet service will go live later this fall, with installations starting Oct. 1 in Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles and Sacramento, the company announced . This marks the first commercial 5G service to launch in the U.S. and shows Verizon is living up to a promise it made in November 2017 to make its plan a reality. Verizon is calling it simply 5G Home, saying it will have “typical speeds” of 300 Mbps and peak speeds of nearly 1 Gbps, depending on location.
It's not true mobile 5G, though, which would be the most beneficial rollout of the new internet speed standard that was finalized last December. But in theory, it should bring faster broadband speeds to the home that are on par with, or at least on par with, gigabit fiber networks. It also helps Verizon build out mobile 5G in the future, which will involve a huge number of different technologies, hardware, and partnerships once all the networks and phone manufacturers are able to support it.
As for pricing and availability, Verizon says that customers in these select areas can sign up for the program starting September 13th, as long as their address is in a supported zip code. It will cost $50 per month for existing Verizon Wireless customers and $70 for non-Verizon customers. To the first members to sign up for the service, Verizon will offer free router installation, three months of free service, a free Chromecast or Apple TV 4K, and three months of free YouTube TV. According to Verizon, the service will go live once the installation is complete.
