Verizon is already preparing to test 5G wireless technology

Most analysts for the wireless market have predicted that 2020 will be when 5G networks start seeing commercial deployment, but I guess Verizon didn’t get the memo. The largest wireless carrier in the United States announced this morning that it plans to begin testing of 5G wireless technology sometime in 2016, with “some level of commercial deployment” expected the following year. Initial tests have shown that 5G could offers speeds that are 30 to 50 times faster than current 4G networks.

There’s going to be a race to 5G, and Verizon is about to get moving. Verizon said this morning that it plans to begin testing 5G wireless technology next year, with “some level of commercial deployment” planned for 2017, according to CNET. Verizon isn’t saying exactly when it sees a multitude of its subscribers connected to a 5G network, but it suggests that’ll happen within the next five years. Verizon intends to continue building out its LTE network in the meantime. The next question that Verizon will have to answer is what it actually means by 5G. In a press release, Verizon says that it sees 5G as offering “50 times the throughput of current 4G LTE, latency in the single milliseconds, and the ability to handle exponentially more Internet-connected devices.” Of course, those are the “expected benefits” of 5G; Verizon hasn’t even started testing the service yet, and chances are good that 5G will look very different out in the real world. But at a very basic level, it’s still going to mean faster data speeds, which will be an important hook for consumers and a big help for streaming services.