Verizon customers in four cities getting 5G Internet service

The era of 5G technology has officially arrived, albeit in a limited way.

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, Calif. — advertising download speeds of about 300 megabits per second. It marks the first commercial use of a 5G network anywhere in the world, according to the company.

Unlike traditional residential Internet, which comes into homes by a fixed wire, Verizon’s new service works by sending Web content over a mobile data connection to a wireless router in the 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 megabits per second or more.

Verizon’s broadbandonly service will cost $70 a month, with a $20 discount for Verizon cellular customGov.

ers. According to Leichtman Research Group, the average price for broadband Internet is about $60, meaning only some customers will be saving money.

While 5G could help speed up the everyday mobile data experience, industry officials say its true benefits have to do with facilitating entirely new technologies such as selfdriving cars, remote medicine and other applications that current mobile data standards can’t support.

Verizon’s announcement comes amid a push by federal policymakers to speed the deployment of 5G technology.

Last week, the Federal Communications Commission voted to impose new requirements on city governments that will force them to approve 5G cell sites more quickly. The new rule also limits the amount of money cities can charge for processing requests from companies such as AT&T and Verizon to use public utility poles and other rights of way.

Supporters of the proposal said the new policies will accelerate the rollout of 5G. But critics said the proposal would limit local autonomy and undercut public services in some cities.

The White House has also joined in the 5G effort, gathering business leaders and government officials in a meeting on Friday to discuss the potential of the technology and the benefits of private network investment. The event followed a controversy earlier this year in which a leaked proposal by national security staff members suggested that President Donald Trump’s administration build a government-run 5G network.

What Verizon’s service won’t do is extend high-speed Internet access to rural America, where many households can’t get broadband at all, let alone competition. Cable and other companies haven’t found it profitable to extend wires to remote parts of the country. But Verizon will face the same problem, given that its short-range signal will require several wireless towers closer together. That’s feasible only in densely populated areas.

That’s not good enough, said Harold Feld, senior vice president of the advocacy group Public Knowledge.

He said Internet service at reasonable prices is “fundamental” for all Americans — not just those who live in populated areas.

That’s why Verizon is pushing residential service first, while AT&T has said it plans to launch 5G this year for mobile devices — not home Internet — in 12 cities, including Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas and New Orleans.

And Sprint and T-Mobile have pledged to spend $40 billion building their own 5G wireless network should the government approve their $26 billion merger.

Dish also has plans for a 5G network, but it’s focused on connecting the so-called “Internet of Things,” everything from laundry machines to parking meters, rather than cellphones or residential broadband.

For now, Verizon isn’t planning to hit markets where it already has its cable-like Fios service. Verizon stopped expanding Fios around 2010, in part because it was expensive to dig up streets and lay fiberoptic lines. Verizon can build 5G more cheaply because it can use the same towers available for cellular service.

That said, Verizon might not recoup its costs if it ends up drawing only customers who stand to save money over cable, said John Horrigan, a broadband expert at the Technology Policy Institute.

And while Verizon says the new network will be able to handle lots of devices at once, anyone who’s tried to use a phone during concerts and conferences will know that the airwaves can get congested quickly.