Verizon’s rollout of 5G mobile data service is finally underway in the U.S. after nearly a year of hype about the technology.
Certain parts of Chicago and Minneapolis are the first two places Verizon customers will find 5G coverage, though it is fairly limited. At least 30 cities are expected to get Verizon 5G by the end of the year, but getting on the network isn’t so simple.
Verizon’s new 5G coverage spans the general downtown areas of Chicago and Minneapolis. You’ll also see 5G speeds near U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis and the Gold Coast, River North and Old Town neighborhoods of Chicago.
None of the newest iPhones support 5G networks. Apple isn’t expected to support 5G on iPhone until 2020 at the earliest but it might not happen until 2021. If you want to tap into Verizon’s 5G network, you’ll have to switch to Android.
The Moto Z3 with its 5G Moto Mod is the only smartphone in the U.S. that is 5G ready. Samsung is launching the Galaxy S10 5G this summer.
Verizon’s 5G network promises to deliver average download speeds of 450Mbps with peak speeds reaching nearly 1 Gbps. AT&T recently started calling its LTE network “5G E” even though it doesn’t use any of the 5G network standards and is slower than Verizon’s LTE speeds. T-Mobile, AT&T and Sprint are all expected to start rolling out their true 5G networks throughout 2019 as well.
