Last year carriers began rolling out “5G” for homes. Verizon was one of those carriers where they started to offer users “5G”, although technically it was not 5G, at least not according to the standards. Verizon did state that they would be upgrading them to standards-based 5G when the hardware became available, but now it seems it won’t be anytime soon.
During Verizon’s Q4 2018 earnings conference, the company’s CEO Hans Vestberg said that the expansion of the company’s 5G Home will probably only take place in the second half of the year. This is because the company only expects “true” standards-based 5G hardware will be available then. As it stands Verizon’s 5G Home is limited in availability as it was only made available in four cities in the US last year.
This delay means that the rest of the country will have to keep waiting until the hardware is good and ready. Carriers have been rushing to get 5G out as quickly as possible, even if it means confusing customers with their marketing. AT&T was previously criticized for introducing the “5G E” icon on phones on its network.
This is because it isn’t technically 5G, which AT&T has acknowledged, but at the same time the icon and branding does make it confusing for those who aren’t in the know. 5G smartphones are expected to be introduced this year and we can expect to see them from major players such as Samsung and Huawei.