Tomorrow’s iPhone 12 launch is expected to include up to four 5G phones, and Verizon is way behind AT&T and T-Mobile in 5G coverage. (This is a rendering of one of the new iPhones above.) According to our 26-city tests for fastest cellular networks, Verizon had 3.5 percent availability for 5G earlier this summer, down from 38.5 percent for AT&T and 54.2 Percent for T-Mobile.
That’s because Verizon chose a fast but difficult-to-build 5G system called the high-band, or millimeter-wave, system that has a very short range. In our tests, Verizon’s millimeter wave system was much faster than that of the other two wearers, but it didn’t wear.
With low-band 5G, on the other hand, network operators can light up a “5G” icon on many phones, but it essentially offers 4G performance. AT&T and T-Mobile both focused on low-band 5G to light up this indicator. In the case of AT&T, the carrier used a very narrow low-band channel, resulting in a 5G network that (according to our tests) was actually slower than its 4G network.
Verizon doesn’t want to lose the marketing game, however, so plans to enable DSS (Dynamic Spectrum Sharing) which will switch some of its 4G channels to 5G to enable the 5G icon for a lot of people. If its low-band towers have enough capacity, Verizon’s 5G could quickly span the nation.
When testing Verizon 5G across Chicago on October 11th, one of our phones displayed a “5G” icon without the usual “UWB” that denotes Verizon’s highband 5G network. We were running speed tests when the “5G” icon appeared inside the loop in the North River, along Lake Shore Drive, and on the north side.
Existing 5G phones released after February 2020 should have DSS capabilities. However, it is unclear if they will need an update to Android 11 in order to receive them, which could delay their arrival on phones like the Samsung Galaxy S20 series. While Samsung has announced that it will be releasing an Android 11 update for the Galaxy S20 series this year, it could be anytime this year.
How fast is Verizon’s nationwide 5G?
Before launch, DSS 5G isn’t impressive, but it doesn’t have the radio waves to play it back. The table below compares DSS 5G speeds to the 4G and 5G speeds we found in the Chicago phase of our tests for the fastest cellular networks earlier this summer.
DSS simply moves some existing 4G channels to 5G when they are not being used by 4G phones. So you will end up with tight odds that do not add to the carrier’s portfolio but display a “5G” indicator for marketing purposes.
Why DSS at all? There are reasons to do this from a technical point of view. It pays off later in the game. This enables network operators to achieve “stand-alone” 5G status more quickly, in which telephones do not have to be connected to secondary 4G networks for coverage. This will enable new non-speed 5G features like ultra-low latency, network slicing for high reliability, and an increased number of devices per cell, eliminating blocked connections. Plus, network operators can manage their transitions from 4G to 5G much easier than they would otherwise be.
But above all, the symbol lights up.
We asked Verizon for a comment and haven’t heard from it. The new iPhones will be launched on October 13th at 1:00 p.m. (CET).
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