Verizon's fast C-Band 5G is live with high speeds and improved coverage

Verizon Ultra Wideband test on mmWave

What you need to know

• C-band 5G has joined mmWave in Verizon's Ultra Wideband 5G coverage with 90 million covered on Wednesday, January 19.
• Verizon expects to reach 100 million people covered in 1,700 cities before the end of the month.
• Verizon has several phones ready to use the new network including the Samsung Galaxy S21 series with the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro coming soon.

Verizon announced it would bring Ultra Wideband 5G coverage to more than 90 million people with the launch of its C-band network. This mid-band spectrum between 3.7GHz and 4GHz will enable much greater coverage than the mmWave tech with much higher speeds than were possible with nationwide 5G.

While Verizon plans to cover 100 million people by the end of the month, it has had to scale back its expansion a bit due to concerns from the FAA. Verizon pointed out in its announcement that more than 40 countries have deployed on this spectrum without issue.

While speeds on C-band won't be as high as an mmWave connection, The Verge has shown that some Verizon customers have seen speeds as high as 800Mbps on C-band. Results over 500Mbps were common, putting the C-band upgrade right in line with T-Mobile's mid-band 5G results.

The Verge also confirmed that Verizon has several phones ready for C-band already with 20 phones expected to support the network by the end of the year. Currently, C-band on Verizon is available on the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 series as well as the 5th generation iPad Pro 12.9-inch, 3rd generation iPad Pro 11-inch, and 6th generation iPad Mini. For Android, the Samsung Galaxy S21 series is ready alongside the Z Flip3 and Z Fold 3. Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro support is coming soon.

While we still don't have a coverage map for 5G, you can be ready for the upgraded network by making sure your plan supports Ultra Wideband 5G. Verizon's new 5G Play More, 5G Do More, and 5G Get More plans all support Ultra Wideband as well as its older Play More, Do More, and Get More plans. These are some of the best cell phone plans for 5G you can get. Your phone will also need to have the latest updates installed to get connected.

Phones aren't the only devices to benefit with Verizon noting that 20 million households are covered by its wireless broadband as well as 2 million businesses covered by its Business Internet Service.

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