You’d think a comet was heading for Earth. Or that millions of devices with computer chips were about to stop working on New Year’s Day.
Fears of planes falling from the sky after Verizon and AT&T on Wednesday started activating a major part of their wireless 5G networks known as C-bands — so-called for operating in the microwave spectrum of frequencies ranging from 4 to 8 gigahertz — have so far failed to materialize.
The expanded signals will make Internet-connected phones run much faster than under 4G or LTE connections, the carriers said. Verizon said its new 5G signals will reach 90 million consumers in major metro areas, including Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties. AT&T expects 75 million people will have access to its C-band network by year’s end.
Following pleas from airlines worried that the 5G C-band signals could interfere with planes’ communications equipment, companies agreed to delay activating networks at towers near major airports, including those in Fort Lauderdale, Miami and West Palm Beach.
But those pleas, coinciding with promotion of Verizon’s new 5G Ultra Wideband wireless home internet service, have thrown a spotlight onto just what availability of 5G — which stands for fifth generation wireless technology — means to consumers following years of hype and promises.
There’s no question that expansions of 5G networks will significantly improve companies’ ability to deliver higher-speed internet service to consumers’ phones. Gaming is faster. Fewer calls are dropped. Dead zones are fewer and farther between.
The holy grail, however, has been the promise of super-fast 5G wireless service that can replace wired services and easily run every connected device in homes and businesses. While wireless routers would still be needed inside houses, wireless home services eliminate cables coming through walls and put an end to waiting on visits from the dreaded cable man.
But the speeds required to deliver such gee-whiz service require small-cell millimeter-wave transmitters installed on nearly every street in the country. That’s because the fastest signals can only travel short distances and have a harder time penetrating buildings. Companies are still years away from achieving that level of density.
Types of 5G wireless home internet service available now, while unimaginable a few years ago, share more in common with traditional cellular services: Signals are broadcast from large, centrally located towers. Wide reach is prioritized over lightning-fast speeds. Download speeds vary based on the amount of traffic on carriers’ networks at any given time. And coverage is achieved by blending new 5G signals with existing LTE (long-term evolution), or 4G, signals.
Coverage and speed will improve as companies build more towers and expand small-cell transmitters into more neighborhoods, the companies say. But right now anyway, consumers would be advised to lower their 5G expectations.
The largest number of consumers who stand to benefit right away from the 5G upgrade on Wednesday are Verizon and AT&T mobile phone service customers who already have or will have 5G-capable phones and tablets.
Both companies’ websites have long lists of 5G-capable phones that consumers can pay for over time — including some that are free — if they commit to long-term 5G contracts.
AT&T offers an iPhone 13 for free with an eligible trade in and 36-month service agreement, while Verizon offers the same phone starting at $26.66 a month for 30 months.
And while nearly all 5G phones can be connected to in-home devices at broadband speeds through their mobile hotspots, carriers typically cap the amount of data that can be run through hotspots before speeds are throttled or users incur additional charges.
Here’s a rundown on what the major telecommunications companies are offering when they hype availability of 5G:
Verizon
As of Wednesday morning, more than 90 million U.S. residents have access to the company’s 5G Ultra Wideband phone service, and more than 20 million have access to the company’s 5G wireless home internet service, the company says.
To find out whether 5G wireless home internet service is available, consumers must go to and click “order now” or “check availability” near the product descriptions in the middle of the page.
Verizon spokesman Kevin King provided a list of South Florida cities that can receive 5G wireless home service, including Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Pembroke Pines, Parkland, Tamarac, Plantation, Wilton Manors, Pompano Beach, Palm Beach Gardens and Delray Beach.
Not every home in the listed cities are covered, and not all cities with 5G wireless home internet service is on the list, King said.
Typing in several addresses for homes in Fort Lauderdale, Margate, Boca Raton, Miramar and Hollywood turned up none with wireless 5G availability and one in Fort Lauderdale with availability for the company’s LTE wireless home internet service.
“Today is day one [for 5G wireless home internet service],” King said by email. “We’ll continue to expand our 5G service over the next weeks, months and years. So if someone doesn’t have the service at their home today, they can provide their email and we’ll notify them when it’s available.”
Where available, Verizon’s 5G wireless home internet service is offered in two price tiers — 5G Home for $50 a month and 5G Home Plus for $70 when selecting the automatic payment option. Both options will include a wifi router and streaming TV device at no additional cost.
While Verizon touts its 5G wireless home services as “a better and often more affordable alternative to cable,” the company admits that it’s a faster alternative to wired internet service only “in many cases.”
The 5G home wireless service is capable of delivering maximum download speeds close to 1 gigabit and average download speeds of 300 megabits per second (Mbps).
Xfinity’s wired service, by contrast, offers download speeds of up to 50 Mbps for $30 a month and up to 1,200 Mbps (or 1.2 gigabits) for $70 a month. Taxes and equipment are not included.
Verizon’s more widely available LTE home wireless internet service offers speeds of just 25 to 50 Mbps — better than satellite service but slower than all but the most basic wired services.
T-Mobile
The first major telecommunications company to launch 5G mobile service in 2019, T-Mobile introduced 5G wireless home internet service last April and recently expanded it to more than 600 cities, including locations in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties.
But T-Mobile’s 5G wireless home internet service is slower than consumers have come to expect from multiple years of 5G hype. That’s because it was launched on what’s called a low-band 5G network, which emphasizes reach over speed.
T-Mobile’s website says the company targeted its service to rural areas with limited access to broadband service, including some limited to internet service over existing phone lines.
According to a T-Mobile spokeswoman, many 5G home wireless internet customers will see average download speeds “in excess of 100 Mbps, with upload speeds between 6 Mbps and 23 Mbps.” The company’s website states that average speeds are between 35 Mbps and 115 Mbps. That’s on par with the lower-tier wired services offered by Xfinity and AT&T.
AT&T
While AT&T says its 5G services reach more than 255 million people in more than 16,000 cities, that superfast small-cell millimeter wave service, which the company calls 5G+, is limited to 38 cities, including some areas of Miami, and 30 stadiums and other public venues, a spokeswoman said.
While low-band 5G offers fast speeds and can travel farther than 5G+ through walls and buildings, the new C-band signals help fill in the gap by traveling further than 5G+ and providing faster speeds than low-band 5G, she said.
Still, capabilities that AT&T touts as now possible with the launch of the new C-Band spectrum likely won’t cause anyone to do somersaults:
They include:
Uploading a video in a stadium when hundreds of other people are trying to do the same thing at the same time
Play console quality games, streamed from the cloud, “and get near real-time reactions when you click a button”
Attend a critical virtual conference call in a coffee shop when everyone else is doing the same thing
AT&T, for now, is not offering 5G wireless home internet service and is preferring to stick with its fiber optic and DSL (digital subscriber line) services, according to a recent post on the technology-oriented website CNET.com.
Xfinity
Comcast’s Xfinity has no 5G spectrum of its own and continues to lease bandwidth for its mobile phone users on Verizon’s 5G network.
“We have what is called an MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) agreement with Verizon,” spokeswoman Mindy Kramer said by email.
And it has no plans to offer wireless home internet service, Kramer said. According to the company’s website, Xfinity delivers its broadband service using coaxial cable — the same type that delivers cable television into homes, while ultra-fast “Gigabit” service uses fiber optics.
Comcast apparently plans to stick with its wired technology. On Jan. 13, it announced the world’s first test of technology capable of delivering multigigabit speeds to homes through existing wiring.
An Xfinity news release called the technology an “evolutionary step forward in the ability to deliver multigigabit upload and download speeds over the connections already installed in millions of homes worldwide.
Its name? 10G.
Ron Hurtibise covers business and consumer issues for the South Florida Sun Sentinel. He can be reached by phone at 954-356-4071, on Twitter @ronhurtibise or by email at .
