While smartphones have changed internet usage habits in favor of mobile access, network capacity is still affected - and anyone stuck in a crowded city or sports arena can tell you how to slow them down to you.
We sat down with Verizon Wireless Consumer Group CEO Ronan Dunn at CES 2020 to explain how Verizon 5G should expand enough bandwidth to significantly improve download speeds — even for customers stuck in the 5G active user realm.
“In the context of total available bandwidth, this idea of congestion will be a thing of the past. Because a significant amount of traffic will sit on the millimeter wave environment,” Dunn said. “So I think that somewhere like Times Square going at 5 pm, there might be one-digit bandwidth at up to 50 Mbps and 200 Mbps in the middle of Times Square.”
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This is big news for those who have spent time in crowded places where they just can't seem to send a text, let alone send a tweet or Instagram photo.
Obviously this could seriously appeal to livestreamers and other content creators, but it could also benefit someone else hoping for quick online access. 5G uplink speeds in a sports arena include fewer delays in things like fantasy sports and/or sports betting, Dunn suggested. It could be better, though used by commercial interests such as 5G cameras on the go during sporting events or 5G hubs in backpacks.
Better bandwidth means better performance - even for people from 5g
While 5G promises much faster speeds than those on 4G LTE networks, you actually need to own 5g phone to receive them. This is undoubtedly true - but there are also hidden benefits to 5G networks that will benefit everyone, even those who have not yet bought a handset to access the next generation of networks.
Verizon's high speed but small area millimeter wave (millimeter wave) 5G strategy is to create lighting in urban areas where most of the traffic. Simply put, there's better infrastructure and more bandwidth to handle it. And so all high-bandwidth users will be sending data over a portion of the 5G network, there's more lower-band LTE and 4G to go around for people who haven't upgraded yet.
All smart networks will be able to prioritize which content should get bandwidth first — no, Danna — stressed as a violation of net neutrality, but serve less important requests at slightly slower speeds. If your email arrives after eight milliseconds, it will have zero effect, he suggested. This results in a more efficient network overall, which will only get better as we roll forward into 2020.