Kellen
Verizon took a minute to stand on a soapbox this morning and warn the wireless industry that they shouldn’t over sell 5G. Verizon is worried that some will “over-hype and under-deliver” as temptation slides in for the awesomeness that is the future of 5G.
They have called upon the wireless industry to “commit to labeling something 5G only if new device hardware is connecting to the network using new radio technology to deliver new capabilities.” They won’t “take an old phone and just change the software to turn the 4 in the status bar into a 5” or call their 4G network a 5G network “if customers don’t experience a performance or capability upgrade that only 5G can deliver.”
They went on to say that they are leading by example and that they challenge their competitors to only provide a “clear, consistent and simple understanding of 5G” to consumers, and that with 5G on the horizon, talk of 5G “must be measured in truth and fact, not marketing hype.”
It’s obvious that Verizon is pointing directly at AT&T as they say all of this, even though they never mention them by name. And yes, AT&T deserves to be chastised over their 4G LTE to 5G E flip. But this is all pretty rich coming from Verizon.
Remember, Verizon was so focused on being “first” to 5G, that they created their own non-standards based 5G that doesn’t work with the standards-based 5G that everyone else will deploy. It’s currently only used in their 5G Home service, which again, won’t work with the wireless 5G that your phone will connect to at some point down the road. Speaking of their mobile 5G, Verizon is already labeling it “5G Ultra Wideband,” only adding to the confusion as if it’s something more than 5G.
So by creating the “first” 5G product in 5G Home and now preparing to launch 5G Ultra Wideband, they’ve done nothing but move away from truth and fact, all for marketing hype, leading to a message that is by no means clear or consistent. Great.
// Verizon
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