Verizon’s early rollout highlights challenges, hype of 5G technology

Verizon’s limited 5G rollout – in some neighborhoods in Sacramento, Los Angeles, Houston, and Indianapolis – highlights the challenges of the next-generation technology. The few customers receiving the service seem happy with the wireless service. But Verizon has been unable to overcome limitations of the technology and public interest advocates are raising questions about where Verizon is choosing to build its next-generation service.

Verizon’s 5G wireless signals have trouble traveling through buildings. “There wasn't a strong enough signal,” a Verizon customer in Houston said about his newly installed 5G service. “My neighbor's garage apartment was between my apartment and the micro-cell installation. We were able to get signal outside of units that did not have a building in the way.”

Even if the technology worked perfectly, it wouldn’t matter unless Verizon were building to every neighborhood. Carli Stevenson, who works for public interest group Demand Progress, lives in Indianapolis and complained that Verizon’s 5G service wasn’t available to her. She suggested Verizon was opting not to build in lower income areas.

“I only live ten minutes from downtown Indianapolis and my neighborhood is just west of what we call ‘Mile Square,’ which is the business district and the epicenter of downtown,” Stevenson said. “I do live in a low-income neighborhood, so my suspicion is that they’re rolling out 5G, but they’re only making it available to certain addresses and those addresses are based on the property values.”

Link:

Verizon’s 5G Rollout Experiences Are a Mixed Bag So Far (IEEE Spectrum, Oct. 11, 2018)