Verizon Sends “Major” 5G Upgrades to 20 New Cities

US wireless carriers made such a goofy decision years ago to specify which type of 5G you were on at any given time. It added unnecessary complexity and was likely initially created as a way to try and act like they were keeping up with competitors who were far ahead in good 5G rollout. They then realized they could use different names for 5G to upsell you on a data plan and also because they could shout it in marketing materials whenever their best 5G expanded.

Maybe I should give them more credit, but the idea was likely never to make you, the customer, feel excited about your connection type, but I can confirm that I often do get slightly giddy whenever I see the “5G UW” or “5G UC” icon show up in my status bar. And I point that out because I don’t think I’ve heard another person in my orbit (my family and friends) mention their 5G icon or asked why it has an extra couple of letters nearby. Instead, they give me funny side-eye when I notice it and then proceed to run several speedtests.

Long and winding story short, I like learning about good 5G rollouts, like Verizon and T-Mobile keep doing. It lets me know if my city or your city’s 5G is actually getting better, where it’s getting better, and if your connection can now compete with your home internet or you can start doing virtual 3D open heart surgeries while your electric car self-drives across town, all powered by the same 5G. Wasn’t that the promise?

Today, we’re back to share another 20 cities that Verizon says they have pushed out “major” 5G expansions in. We previously told you about a large batch of 25 cities followed by another 8 that took us from the end of 2022 and into the middle of April. This next list touches on everywhere from Los Angeles and Phoenix to Syracuse and Miami, so there’s a good chance you should be seeing better 5G.

Here’s the full list of cities getting 5G upgrades from Verizon in recent weeks:

• Columbus, NE
• Cozad, NE
• Des Moines, IA
• Durham, NC
• Flint, MI
• Grand Island, NE
• Hastings, NE
• Indianapolis, IN
• Lansing, MI
• Los Angeles, CA
• Miami, FL
• Nickerson, NE
• North Platte, NE
• Palm Bay, FL
• Phoenix, AZ
• Raleigh, NC
• Rockford, IL
• Spalding, NE
• Syracuse, NY
• Tilden, NE

In Phoenix, Verizon says that it has “added 5G Ultra Wideband service to more than 80% of the sites serving customers,” pushed out more mmWave 5G to downtown and other areas, and has plans to push even more spectrum by the end of the year. In Miami, Verizon claims that “94% of customers in Miami have access to 5G Ultra Wideband service,” while Los Angeles customers should see much more targeted expansion that you can read about here.

If your city is listed above, that link below will get you to the master list of all  cities getting upgrades. Once you find your city, you’ll be able to read through Verizon’s write-up and where to go hunting for better 5G.

// Verizon