Big day for commercial 5G in U.S. and South Korea

Wednesday April 3, 2019 was a big day for commercial 5G as U.S. service provider Verizon switched on its commercial 5G network in two cities, while South Korea’s service providers switched on their commercial 5G networks.

Ericsson is a Verizon 5G network partner, and a 5G network partner to two of the three South Korean service providers: SK Telecom and KT. Commercially available smartphones were used in launch events in the US and South Korea on April 3.

Verizon’s commercial 5G Ultra-Wideband Network is now live in selected areas of Minneapolis and Chicago. Meanwhile, famous Korean personalities, and honorary subscribers, were among the first to receive 5G smartphones as part of the network launch in Korea.

Subscribers in the two U.S. cities, and South Korea, are already enjoying the high-speed, low-latency, enhanced mobile broadband benefits of 5G in areas such as infotainment, streaming and gaming.

Ericsson currently has 18 publicly announced 5G deals with service providers around the world. Further commercial network launches are expected as 5G devices become available across markets.