Verizon announced a major expansion of its mmWave 5G network in the US, coinciding with the release of the first iPhones to support the spectrum. The service is available in 19 additional US cities, 19 stadiums and six airports, with peak speeds of up to 4 Gbps in some places. Verizon is also turning on nationwide 5G service thanks to dynamic spectrum sharing with its other frequencies, with availability for more than 200 million people.
Verizon plans to expand the mmWave 'Ultra Wideband' service to more than 60 cities by year-end. Some of the new places covered include parts of Las Vegas, San Francisco, St Louis, Milwaukee, Louisville, Baltimore, Tucson and Raleigh. The faster speeds are achieved with carrier aggregation of up to eight separate channels of mmWave spectrum.
iPhone 12 customer experiences
To promote the expanded 5G coverage and the new iPhones, Verizon is offering iPhone 12 customers experiences and applications from the National Football League, The New York Times, Riot Games and others. These include 5G SuperStadium for access to additional camera angles in football stadiums, the 'From Here' experience from the Times to explore a space as if they were physically in the picture themselves through environmental photogrammetry, and the game League of Legends Wild Rift for a PC-like experience on the mobile phone.
The new iPhones will be available from launch with Verizon. It offers the iPhone 12 free to new customers on certain Unlimited plans with trade-in, or from USD 15 per month for existing customers.
Xfinity Mobile, the Comcast MVNO on Verizon's network, said it would also offer nationwide 5G coverage from 14 October.
