Verizon has expanded its 5G Home service to include Houston, as the wireless company continues to emphasize mmWave deployment.
mmWave is the fast flavor of 5G, offering speeds measured in gigabits. Verizon has bet heavily on the technology, focusing on it for both mobile users and wireless home internet service. The company had previously rolled out the service in Detroit, as well as improved service in Indianapolis and Los Angeles.
Verizon has also been working to improve coverage. While mmWave is the fastest 5G available, its range is extremely limited when compared to low and mid-band 5G. To improve coverage, Verizon has partnered with Pivotal Commware, Inc., a Verizon Ventures portfolio company, to use repeaters to extend the range of the service.
“Compared to lower spectrum bands, 5G over mmWave offers far more speed and throughput, is more energy efficient, experiences less signal interference over the air, and has a much greater capacity for expansive scalability,” said Kevin Smith, Vice President of Network Planning for Verizon. “As we’ve known since our very early trials, high band spectrum provides more limited coverage from macro cells. Introducing repeaters like the ones we are trialing from Pivotal will help us expand the footprint of our new 5G Ultra Wide Band network and provide another tool in the toolbox for robust network design.”
The improved 5G Home should provide an excellent alternative to traditional internet service for residents in the target cities.