With carriers promising mobile 5G network coverage early next year, Verizon and Motorola have introduced a new smartphone capable of upgrading to 5G when the time comes via a clip-on module housing a 5G-capable modem.
Motorola’s new Moto Z3 will be available starting Aug. 16, exclusively at Verizon stores, for $480. The 5G moto mod, which snaps on and supports 5G over millimeter wave spectrum, will likely come out in early 2019 – about the time Verizon said its mobile 5G service will debut. Pricing for the 5G moto mod has yet to be announced.
Verizon’s initial 5G rollouts will be focused on residential broadband using fixed wireless, with Houston, Los Angeles, and Sacramento, along with one additional city yet to be disclosed, the first markets to get the service during the second half of 2018. Verizon then plans to deploy mobile 5G services in 2019.
T-Mobile CEO John Legere on a quarterly earnings call this week reiterated plans to bring 5G to 30 cities this year, initially launching in New York, Los Angeles, Dallas and Las Vegas, with nationwide coverage happening by 2020.
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