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.
Customers on AT&T’s ‘5G E’ networks aren’t getting the huge speed gains promised by one of the nation’s largest carriers.
In an attempt to get a headstart on the 5G wave, AT&T has renamed a large portion of its 4G network to ‘5G E.’ The carrier calls it 5G Evolution and says its the first step towards the 20Gbps speeds promised by 5G, but a recent study found that AT&T’s 5G E network is actually slower than LTE Advanced speeds on other carriers.
Look at how mediocre AT&T’s speeds are:
Well behind arch-rival AT&T, Verizon will begin rolling out its 5G wireless network in two cities early in April.
This is the carrier’s first step in having this faster replacement for LTE available in 30 cities by the end of the year.
The 5G future is finally going to start rolling out to Verizon customers later this year, but only if you live in one of the 30 cities tapped to get the super-fast mobile data speeds.
During a call with investors this morning, Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg revealed that Verizon’s deployment of 5G technology is nearly ready. And this time, it’s going to be real 5G.
Update: Verizon has officially confirmed this offer.
“When we introduced six months free of Apple Music to Verizon Unlimited subscribers, we said it was just the beginning of a great collaboration between Verizon and Apple to bring music streaming to our loyal customers,” said Angie Klein, vice president of marketing at Verizon. “Our customers loved the offer, so we’re expanding the value of our Beyond Unlimited and Above Unlimited plans by including Apple Music at the same plan price. You can stream more of the music you love on the network you deserve.”
According to a new report, Verizon is set to offer Apple Music as a freebie service to customers on two of its “unlimited” cell phone plans. This would, in essence, reduce Apple’s $9.99 per month subscription costs to zero — while boosting Apple’s subscriber numbers as well.
Developers received a brand new beta for iOS 12.1 this morning, bringing a host of new tweaks and performance improvements to the iPhone and iPad.
iOS 12.1 beta 3 comes one week after Apple seeded the last beta build to developers. The company also released the third beta builds of watchOS 5.1 and tvOS 12.1 to developers today.
Anyone eagerly awaiting a 5G iPhone probably should be an AT&T subscriber. This wireless service provider will have mobile 5G service in a dozen cities before any of its rivals have it in even one.
Still, rival Verizon hit a milestone today by making the world’s first 5G NR call from a smartphone-size device.
T-Mobile customers can now sign up to the iPhone Upgrade Program online — just in time for Apple’s big 2018 upgrades.
Online enrollment was previously available to those on AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon, while T-Mobile subscribers were forced to visit their local Apple Store. The process will be a little easier for those looking to buy a new iPhone this fall.
As part of its effort to get a jump on the competition when it comes to 5G networks, Verizon reportedly plans to offer a free 4K Apple TV to customers.
Verizon will be the first mobile carrier to offer 5G residential broadband service in the U.S. later this year, and it’s trying to lure subscribers in with a deal on Apple TV 4k plus discounted YouTube TV, which usually costs $40 per month.
U.S. telecoms try to lure new customers with free streaming services. Verizon has teamed up with Apple to offer half a year of Apple Music at no additional cost.
What’s even ore interesting is that the wireless provider calls this “just the first step in an exclusive partnership with Apple.”
Verizon just reveled that Houston will be the third city getting its super-speedy 5G service before the end of this year. But there’s huge caveat: this is fixed service, only for homes and businesses.
In contrast, AT&T will launch mobile 5G service in six cities this year. This shows how far ahead it is than the competition.
Verizon wants to hook up with either Apple or Google to provide TV services when it launches its super fast 5G service to customers in Los Angeles and Sacramento, a new report claims.
The idea is that packaging Verizon’s 5G online TV with either Google’s YouTube TV or an as-yet-unnanounced Apple TV package would help Verizon to showcase its new service.
AT&T promised to bring the next generation of cellular wireless technology to a dozen cities before the end of this year. It just hasn’t revealed which ones yet.
The carrier started the teasing process a few months ago, announcing that Atlanta, Dallas and Waco, Texas, will get mobile 5G.
AT&T customers might start noticing that their monthly bills just got a little bit more expensive.
In a move to raise some more cash after spending $85.4 billion to buy Time Warner, AT&T has increased the price of its customer service fees. The increase itself is pretty small, but when applied to AT&T’s entire customer base, it could help the telecommunications carrier bring in an extra $800 million in revenue this year.
Verizon just created a new top tier to its unlimited data plans. It was designed for “super users who want the most,” according to the carrier.
The Above Unlimited plan offers 75GB of unthrottled 4G LTE data, and 20GB of unthrottled hotspot data, for $95 a month.
T-Mobile uses the self-bestowed accolade ‘Best Unlimited Network’ in its ads. But now an advertising regulatory body told the carrier to knock it off.
To be clear, this recommendation by the National Advertising Division (NAD) isn’t binding. But it’s significant enough that T-Mobile is appealing the decision.
The Department of Justice is investigating whether AT&T and Verizon colluded to subvert the primary goal of electronic SIMs. This new tech makes it easy to switch between service providers, something to two largest wireless carriers apparently wanted to prevent.
Apple uses an eSIM in the Apple Watch Series 3. And last year this company formally complained to the DoJ that the two carriers were pressuring an international standards body to make an anticompetitive change to this emerging tech.
Verizon’s new service lets parents limit their children’s’ screen time, monitor who they’re texting (and how often), and track their location.
The Smart Family program also includes content filters, and can even tell a parent how much battery life their child’s phone has left.
A quick and reliable LTE connection is a necessity for any iPhone. Verizon and T-Mobile offer the best 4G performance, with AT&T and Sprint not able to keep up.
All four of the national carriers’ networks show improvement over 2017, but some haven’t yet recovered from the deluge of usage that came when they began offering unlimited data plans several years ago.
T-Mobile has increased LTE speeds to a staggering 500Mbps in New York City. It has become the first carrier to test commercial Licensed Assisted Access (LAA) technology, which sends 4G signals over unused 5GHz Wi-Fi channels to increase bandwidth, in the United States.
LAA will soon be expanding its reach across the U.S. — but you won’t be able to enjoy it on iPhone.
Verizon plans to start locking all phones, including iPhones, to its network for a certain period of time. The carrier is hoping the move, which will prevent customers from using other SIM cards in Verizon devices, will help it fight theft.
Interest in Apple’s latest handsets is nearing an all-time low in the United States. A survey among customers with three of the largest carriers reveals the number of iPhone owners who plan to upgrade to a new iPhone is down more than seven percent.
AT&T has promised to begin rolling out a true next-generation 5G network in a dozen U.S. cities by the end of the year.
The pledge follows international 5G standards being agreed upon last month by 3GPP, the body responsible for developing and governing cellular standards.
If you missed out on generous launch discounts on iPhone X, don’t despair. There are more right around the corner for Black Friday. Analysts expect carriers to make big price cuts as they fight for new subscribers this fall.
The iPhone X launch has caused massive lines of to form up outside of Apple stores across the globe, but due to limited supply, many are walking away empty handed.
Apple saw unprecedented demand for the iPhone X when it opened pre-orders last week. Shipping times quickly slipped to five to six weeks, causing fans who didn’t pre-order to line up early in hopes of getting the iPhone X.