Verizon claims to be the national leader in network densification - increasing network capacity through the deployment of additional fiber backhaul, small cells, distributed antenna systems (DAS) and numerous in-building solutions.
The Operator said it has substantial small cell deployments in each of the top 25 markets and in 90% of the top 100 markets.
Looking ahead, Verizon plans to continue to focus on innovation, investing in the latest technology and deploying its Intelligent Edge Network, which combines dense fiber, software defined networking (SDN) and high-capacity spectrum.
As part of its wireless network milestones in 2017, Verizon shared some of the highlights it claims to have achieved this year;
- In 2017, we built on our rich history of industry breakthroughs with some “new firsts”:
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- First to reach 953 Mbps in a real-world environment using LAA (Licensed Assisted Access).
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- First to break the gigabit speed barrier in wireless.
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- First to launch FDD (Frequency Division Duplex) Massive MIMO.First to demo end-to-end band 48 CBRS (citizens broadband radio service) carrier aggregation.
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- Fully deployed on carrier aggregation across our network in close to 2,000 markets.
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- Deployed 4X4 MIMO and 256 QAM in over 560 markets nationwide.First to launch a national CATM1 network for IoT uses.
The number one mobile operator in the US also shared some examples of lessons it learned from the 5G trials;
- Millimeter-wave spectrum propagates better than expected; results show we can get as high as 19 floors using our 28 GHz spectrum.
- Median speeds of 1 GB/second beyond 2,000 feet from cell sites, further than expected.
- We’re getting better results than expected for wall penetration through various building materials, and innovative solutions to get through lowE window glass continue to take shape.
- In terms of latency (response time), we’re seeing under 10 milliseconds compared to 50 milliseconds on our LTE network, and it’s only going to get better.
Nicola Palmer, Chief Network Engineer and Head of Wireless Networks, Verizon
In 2018, you won’t see us settle for anything less than extension of the industry leadership and technological innovation we’re known for, being the first to deliver what’s next for our customers, partners and the public safety community.
