Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Can Wireless Challenge Cable for Home Internet Service?
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 7 years ago on
October 1, 2018

Share

NEW YORK — Cellular companies such as Verizon are looking to challenge traditional cable companies with residential internet service that promises to be ultra-fast, affordable and wireless.

“That’s the trend that cable has been having problems with for several years, and a trend that phone companies can take advantage of.” — Gartner analyst Bill Menzes
Using an emerging wireless technology known as 5G, Verizon’s 5G Home service provides an alternative to cable for connecting laptops, phones, TVs and other devices over Wi-Fi. It launches in four U.S. cities on Monday.
Verizon won’t be matching cable companies on packages that also come with TV channels and home phone service. But fewer people have been subscribing to such bundles anyway, as they embrace streaming services such as Netflix for video and cellphone services instead of landline.
“That’s the trend that cable has been having problems with for several years, and a trend that phone companies can take advantage of,” Gartner analyst Bill Menzes said.
That’s if the wireless companies can offer a service that proves affordable and effective.
T-Mobile and Sprint are also planning a residential 5G service as part of their merger proposal, though few details are known.

Only Some Customers Will Be Saving Money

Verizon’s broadband-only service will cost $70 a month, with a $20 discount for Verizon cellular customers. According to Leichtman Research Group, the average price for broadband internet is about $60, meaning only some customers will be saving money.

“The things that really matter to a customer are how fast it is and how reliable it is. Reliability is proving out quite nicely.” — Dave Burstein, longtime telecom analyst
Even so, Verizon can try to win over some customers with promises of reliability.
Verizon says its service will be much faster than cable. That means downloading a two-hour movie in high definition in two minutes rather than 21. The service promises to let families play data-intensive games and watch video on multiple devices at once, with little or no lag.
“The things that really matter to a customer are how fast it is and how reliable it is,” longtime telecom analyst Dave Burstein said. In tests of Verizon’s 5G so far, he said, “reliability is proving out quite nicely.”
Verizon could also capitalize on many people’s frustration with their cable companies. Consumer Reports magazine says customers have long been unhappy with perceived weak customer service, high prices and hidden fees.
The residential 5G service is part of a broader upgrade in wireless technology.

Verizon Is Pushing Residential Service First

Verizon has spent billions of dollars for rights to previously unused radio waves at the high end of the frequency spectrum. It’s a short-range signal, ideal for city blocks and apartment buildings, but less so for sprawling suburbs or rural communities. That’s why Verizon is pushing residential service first, while AT&T is building a more traditional cellular network for people on the go, using radio waves at the lower end.
AT&T is aiming to launch its 5G mobile network this year in 12 cities, including Atlanta and Charlotte, North Carolina. Dish also has plans for a 5G network, but it’s focused on connecting the so-called “Internet of Things,” everything from laundry machines to parking meters, rather than cellphones or residential broadband.
Sprint tried to introduce residential wireless service before, using a technology called WiMax, but it failed to gain many subscribers as LTE trumped WiMax as the dominant cellular technology. This time, Verizon is using the same 5G technology that will eventually make its way into 5G cellular networks.
The Verizon service will start in parts of Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, and Sacramento, California.
“These are small areas but significant,” said Ronan Dunne, president of Verizon Wireless. “Tens of thousands of homes, not hundreds of thousands of homes.” Eventually, Verizon projects 30 million homes in the U.S. will be eligible, though there’s no timeline.

Verizon Can Build 5G More Cheaply

For now, Verizon isn’t planning to hit markets where it already has its cable-like Fios service. Verizon stopped expanding Fios around 2010, in part because it was expensive to dig up streets and lay fiber-optic lines. Verizon can build 5G more cheaply because it can use the same towers available for cellular service.

T-Mobile and Sprint want to jointly create a 5G network that would also offer residential wireless broadband, but not for a few years.
That said, Verizon might not recoup its costs if it ends up drawing only customers who stand to save money over cable, said John Horrigan, a broadband expert at the Technology Policy Institute.
And while Verizon says the new network will be able to handle lots of devices at once, anyone who’s tried to use a phone during concerts and conferences will know that the airwaves can get congested quickly.
What Verizon’s service won’t do is extend high-speed internet access to rural America, where many households can’t get broadband at all, let alone competition. Cable and other companies haven’t found it profitable to extend wires to remote parts of the country. But Verizon will face the same problem, given that its short-range signal will require several wireless towers closer together. That’s feasible only in densely populated areas.
That’s not good enough, said Harold Feld, senior vice president of the advocacy group Public Knowledge. He said internet service at reasonable prices is “fundamental” for all Americans — not just those who live in populated areas.
T-Mobile and Sprint want to jointly create a 5G network that would also offer residential wireless broadband, but not for a few years. In seeking regulatory approval, the companies say 20 percent to 25 percent of subscribers will be in rural areas that have limited access to broadband. But the companies offered no details on how they would do so. T-Mobile and Sprint declined to comment.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Elizabeth Smart Shares Harrowing Kidnap, Assault Experience with Fresno

DON'T MISS

US Military Ordered to Pull Books on Diversity, Gender Issues

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Authorities Seek Public’s Help in Huron Homicide

DON'T MISS

UN Agencies Warn That Israel’s Plans for Aid Distribution Will Endanger Lives in Gaza

DON'T MISS

Fresno Police Officer Arrested on Sexual Battery Charges

DON'T MISS

Mayor Baraka of Newark, New Jersey, Arrested at ICE Detention Center He Has Been Protesting

DON'T MISS

FDA Will Allow Three New Color Additives Made From Minerals, Algae and Flower Petals

DON'T MISS

Pentagon Directs Military to Pull Library Books That Address Diversity, Anti-Racism, Gender Issues

DON'T MISS

Fresno Pays the Most for Electricity. What Are Lawmakers Doing About It?

DON'T MISS

Freed Palestinian Student Accuses Columbia University of Inciting Violence

UP NEXT

Leo XIV’s Service to Poor Propelled Him to Papacy, Cardinals Say

UP NEXT

Nitrous Oxide Recreational Use Risks: Brain Damage, Death, and Easy Access

UP NEXT

Former Supreme Court Justice David Souter, a Republican Who Became a Liberal Darling, Dies at 85

UP NEXT

Pope Leo XIV Celebrates First Mass as Pope and Calls His Election Both a Cross and a Blessing

UP NEXT

Selma Bear Sighting Prompts Police, Wildlife Response

UP NEXT

Republicans’ Trust in Media Increases Following Trump’s Return to White House

UP NEXT

Rejoicing Peruvians See Pope Leo XIV as One of Their Own After His Many Years in Peru

UP NEXT

Shohei Ohtani Could Have Landed 15-Year Deal, Agent Says, but He Didn’t Want to Risk Skills Decline

UP NEXT

Joe Biden Blames Kamala Harris’ Loss on Sexism and Racism and Rejects Concerns About His Age

UP NEXT

Before Tariff Price Increases, Mark Cuban Suggests Stocking Up on These Items

UN Agencies Warn That Israel’s Plans for Aid Distribution Will Endanger Lives in Gaza

3 hours ago

Fresno Police Officer Arrested on Sexual Battery Charges

3 hours ago

Mayor Baraka of Newark, New Jersey, Arrested at ICE Detention Center He Has Been Protesting

3 hours ago

FDA Will Allow Three New Color Additives Made From Minerals, Algae and Flower Petals

3 hours ago

Pentagon Directs Military to Pull Library Books That Address Diversity, Anti-Racism, Gender Issues

3 hours ago

Fresno Pays the Most for Electricity. What Are Lawmakers Doing About It?

3 hours ago

Freed Palestinian Student Accuses Columbia University of Inciting Violence

3 hours ago

First At-Home Test Kit for Cervical Cancer Approved by the FDA, Company Says

3 hours ago

US to Accept White South African Refugees While Other Programs Remain Paused

3 hours ago

15 States Sue Over Trump’s Move to Fast-Track Oil and Gas Projects via His ‘Energy Emergency’ Order

4 hours ago

Elizabeth Smart Shares Harrowing Kidnap, Assault Experience with Fresno

Elizabeth Smart was headline news more than two decades ago after she was abducted from her Utah home and held captive for nine months. On F...

39 minutes ago

https://www.communitymedical.org/thecause?utm_source=Misfit+Digital&utm_medium=GVWire+Banner+Ads&utm_campaign=Branding+2025&utm_content=thecause
39 minutes ago

Elizabeth Smart Shares Harrowing Kidnap, Assault Experience with Fresno

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth attends a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 10, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard/File Photo
1 hour ago

US Military Ordered to Pull Books on Diversity, Gender Issues

Fresno County authorities are seeking the public’s help to find the suspect who killed Jesus Adrian Amador Jr., 22, of Huron, in a 2017 shooting. (Fresno County SO)
2 hours ago

Fresno County Authorities Seek Public’s Help in Huron Homicide

3 hours ago

UN Agencies Warn That Israel’s Plans for Aid Distribution Will Endanger Lives in Gaza

Photo of the front of Fresno Police Headquarters
3 hours ago

Fresno Police Officer Arrested on Sexual Battery Charges

3 hours ago

Mayor Baraka of Newark, New Jersey, Arrested at ICE Detention Center He Has Been Protesting

3 hours ago

FDA Will Allow Three New Color Additives Made From Minerals, Algae and Flower Petals

3 hours ago

Pentagon Directs Military to Pull Library Books That Address Diversity, Anti-Racism, Gender Issues

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend