Wireless internet has evolved remarkably over the last few years. If you thought 4G was fast, think about what 5G can do. To be honest, 5G internet has been around for some time now. However, coverage is not as widespread as you’d probably get with 4G. In order to enjoy these super-fast speeds, you will need to be in specific locations and use specific devices or technologies. But this will change very soon.
Samsung and Verizon have announced that they will begin jointly to sell 5G capable devices. This will happen in early 2019. It wasn’t clear which types of devices will have this ability but there’s no doubt it will be the latest in the line of Galaxy smartphones produced by the Korean company. The device won’t be the first 5G phone to hit the market. In fact, during the announcement by Samsung and Verizon, the statement noted clearly that it will be “one of the first.”
It won’t be the last, though. Many smartphone makers have already announced their plans to make 5G smartphones. Samsung is a leader in the phone market and it’s very likely that once it launches the devices other companies will indeed follow suit. After all, many experts think that if smartphone companies want to have a chance at staying competitive in the ever-changing smartphone market, they will need to put 5G among their list of priorities.
The announcement didn’t explain though how the issue of network availability will be solved. Verizon is one of the carriers in the US that offers a 5G network. However, the network is only available in a handful of cities. On the other hand, other carriers don’t have a much bigger presence either. For example, AT&T, another big carrier, has established 5G networks in only seven cities in the US. Sprint and T-Mobile are way behind compared to the two front-runners.
5G promises faster connections than 4G. However, how much faster the network will be is something that has been up for debate. But Verizon appears very confident. The company says that 5G will be “much faster” than 4G. Lab tests have also shown that 5G networks could be 100 times faster than 4G networks. But there’s one challenge. When millions of people are on the network, the speed tends to drop significantly. In that case, many analysts say that in a real-life scenario, a 5G network would probably be 10 times faster than the 4G one.
Also, it’s not yet clear what the appeal will be among smartphone users. Although people do care about Internet speed, 4G networks are pretty much fast and for an average internet user, you’d think that would be enough. The best bet though for 5G will be for business. The internet needs of businesses are different and anything that makes business processes faster even by a small margin is always welcomed. The only challenge for Verizon and other carriers will be to expand coverage so that the network is available in more cities and this will require a lot of investments.
