Verizon Prepping Trials Of 5G Wireless; Could Be 50 Times Faster Than 4G

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(dooley)

Odds are that your wireless provider’s 4G LTE service is nearly as fast — and maybe faster — than the wired Internet service to your home (if only it weren’t so expensive on a per-gigabyte basis). But Verizon says it’s getting ready to test 5G service that could blow all current wireless — and most wireline — broadband out of the water.

An chief technology exec at Verizon tells CNET’s Roger Cheng that the company is prepping to launch field trials of its 5G network within the next year, with deployment to some commercial accounts by 2017.

In terms of speed, Verizon says its tests found the next-gen service is 30 to 50 times faster than the company’s current 4G offering. So a movie that currently takes six minutes to download over 4G would take as few as 15 seconds.

Not only is 5G expected to faster, it should also be more energy efficient, meaning your phone and other 5G wireless devices won’t need to be charged as frequently.

We’re still a few years off from 5G being available to anyone, but the 2017 date for launching some commercial 5G service puts Verizon’s timeline three years ahead of the predicted 2020 debut of 5G in the U.S.

CNET notes that providers in South Korea and Japan are rushing to try to deploy 5G in advance of their upcoming Olympic games (2018 and 2020, respectively).

Expect to hear more about 5G this week as Verizon and other providers talk up their next big things a the CTIA Wireless trade show in Las Vegas.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist