Verizon announced that it now has access to the total amount of 5G C-band spectrum secured at auction in March 2021 – four months ahead of schedule. This allows Verizon to expand and enhance its 5G ultra wideband network nationwide, more than doubling and, in some markets, tripling the 5G bandwidth available to serve customers.
This will provide much greater capacity to accommodate more customers and more services, as well as enable higher data speeds. This additional spectrum will also allow Verizon to offer 5G home broadband and business internet services to more customers.
“Early access to the remainder of the C-band spectrum puts us another four months ahead of schedule from our original projections. This additional spectrum will make 5G Ultra Wideband available to even more Americans, and will open up more availability of our home and business broadband solutions,” says Joe Russo, EVP and president of global networks and technology for Verizon. “The more spectrum we deploy on our network, the more capacity we add for our customer’s to connect.”
Since Verizon initiated the deployment of 5G service using C-band spectrum, the high-speed 5G service has become accessible to over 222 million individuals across 359 markets. Furthermore, more than 40 million households now get access to Verizon’s home internet services, with 384,000 new customers subscribing solely in the second quarter of this year. This surge brings the total number of FWA customers to an impressive 2.3 million.
Verizon’s C-band holdings
Verizon won C-band licenses for between 140-200 MHz in all available markets, and began deploying 60 MHz in the first 46 areas in 2022. As the additional spectrum has been cleared by satellite companies outside of the first 46 areas, Verizon has been able to deploy 5G ultra wideband using a portion of its licensed bandwidth in many more markets coast to coast.
Now, with final clearance from the satellite incumbents, Verizon will be able to use the entirety of its licensed C-band spectrum, an average of 161 MHz coast to coast with some markets accessing a full 200 MHz. Verizon has been deploying equipment that is capable of the full 200MHz of bandwidth, so with a mere software update, customers will start to see the effects of this increase in bandwidth in the immediate next few days and weeks.
Specifically, Verizon now has access to:
- A minimum 140 megahertz of total spectrum in the contiguous United States and an average of 161 megahertz nationwide; that’s bandwidth in every available market, 406 markets in all.
- Up to 200 megahertz in 158 mostly rural markets covering nearly 40 million people. This will further enhance Verizon’s broadband solution portfolio for rural America.
More service in more places
Accelerated access to spectrum holdings means greater capacity and faster speeds in major metro areas where Verizon’s network is already undefeated in 96.8% of the metro drive tests (121 out of 125 markets) performed by the most rigorous scientific testing company in the first half of 2023. Additional spectrum also allows Verizon to continue expanding coverage of its 5G network, introducing 5G ultra wideband service into even more rural and suburban areas.
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