Verizon has announced plans for a residential 5G service to be tested in four cities that includes an option for an Apple TV 4K. You’ll need a Verizon 5G modem and plan. Here’s the announcement.
Indianapolis is about to get a first taste of 5G. Today we announced Indianapolis as the fourth city where we will offer Verizon’s 5G residential broadband service in the second half of 2018, joining Houston, Los Angeles and Sacramento.
We’re also offering YouTube TV and Apple TV 4K as part of our broadband package, in Indianapolis and our other three 5G launch cities. YouTube TV will give you more than 60 of your favorite live TV channels and with Apple TV you can select all the movies and TV shows you want from iTunes, Netflix, and Prime Video. 5G also means super-fast internet speeds and the ability to connect more devices at home, allowing you to download movies in an instant and engage in truly high-end gaming.
Here’s how it works. Verizon’s package includes a 5G modem that picks up the signal right in your home. Then, it acts as a Wi-Fi base station for your Apple TV 4K. For those customers who don’t want the Apple TV 4K, YouTube TV can be substituted.
[Everything iPhone Users Need to Know About 5G Wireless ]
This is pretty clever because it completely bypasses wires/coax coming into the home. Speeds can be as high as 1 Gbps, and 5G offers very low latency. However, by the very nature of 5G wireless, limited range and signal propagation through walls will always be an issue. It will be interesting to see how this works out in the four test cities.
For additional background and Verizon’s business approach, see:
The “why” in the above article refers to the business proposition, not a technical requirement. In addition, there had been some speculation as to why Apple shut down its Wi-Fi product business. This Verizon announcement appears to validate the idea that, many customers, homes (and businesses), will be able to pull the internet out of thin air (with a 5G modem), and Verizon becomes the wireless ISP.
But, so far. we’re just in the announcement phase. Verizon concludes:
We’re just getting started with 5G. We will share information on pricing and service availability, and more detail on the specific content plans, as we get closer to our launch dates in our four cities.
This could be big.