Phoenix To Get 5G Network In 2019: Sprint

PHOENIX, AZ — Phoenix is joining eight other cities across the United States as the first recipients of Sprint's new 5G network, according to a Sprint press release. The new fifth-generation network is expected to be fast enough to download movies in seconds.

"Today we have a great LTE network, and with Sprint 5G, we’ll deliver for our customers mobile data speeds that are up to 10 times faster, with significantly improved reliability and coverage," said Kevin Crull, Sprint’s chief strategy officer, according to the release.

Phoenix, alongside New York City and Kansas City, is joining Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. as the first to get the high-speed service in the first half of 2019.

Here's what Sprint says the major benefits will be:

• With 4G, it can take almost six minutes to download a full movie. With 5G, that same movie could be downloaded in 15 seconds.
• 5G will be able to connect everything to everything, including baby monitors to cars, smartphones, drones and VR headsets to name a few.
• 5G’s low latency (quick reaction time) will eventually make breakthroughs such as remote patient monitoring and even remote surgery possible.

Sprint won the Light Reading's 2018 "Most Innovative 5G Strategy" Leading Light Award, for utilizing cell sites which are "capable of delivering up to 10 times the capacity of current LTE systems," the press release said. Sprint's strategy allows 4G LTE and 5G to operate in the same system, an approach Sprint calls "highly cost-effective."

Article image via Google Street View screenshot