However, due to multiple factors like testing and regulations, 5G can’t be rolled out instantly, so service isn’t available everywhere just yet. With that being said, frequent progress is being made for a speedy rollout.
US 5G Rollout
Verizon: Fixed and mobile 5G all over the US.AT&T: Mobile 5G in thousands of cities.T-Mobile/Sprint: Available in thousands of locations.UScellular: Works in parts of California, Iowa, Maine, and other states.C Spire: Fixed and mobile 5G in Mississippi.Charter’s Spectrum Mobile: Began providing 5G in 2020.Comcast/Xfinity: Rolled out nationwide in 2020.Starry: Fixed 5G in Boston, Denver, LA, New York City, and Washington, D.C.Google Fi & Simple Mobile: Nationwide coverage powered by T-Mobile.Nex-Tech Wireless: Launched in 2021; limited 5G home availability in the Midwest.US Mobile: 5G works with all of their plans.Mint Mobile: Available in thousands of US cities since 2020.Cricket Wireless: Began offering services in late 2020.Visible: Works through Verizon’s network.Dish: Started offering service in 2022.Cellcom: Available in parts of Wisconsin.
Verizon
Verizon currently offers 5G broadband internet, called 5G Home Internet and powered by 5G Ultra Wideband, in hundreds of cities. Some of those locations include Houston TX, Sacramento CA, Indianapolis IN, Los Angeles CA, Chicago IL, Detroit MI, Minneapolis MN, St. Paul MN, Atlanta GA, Dallas TX, Denver CO, and San Jose CA. 5G Home Internet service began on October 1, 2018. 5G Ultra Wideband began rolling out on April 3, 2019, and is presently available in parts of 1,700 cities. 5G Nationwide covers well over 2,000 cities.
Verizon 5G Home Internet
Verizon customers with a qualifying plan pay as low as $25 /month for their home 5G service, or as much as $60 /month without Auto Pay. The 5G plans are month-to-month (not annual contracts), and have no early termination fees or penalties. There are no data caps and subscribers can expect speeds ranging from 300 Mbps to up to around 1 Gbps, depending on location. This video from Verizon shows one 5G Home Internet user’s download, upload, and latency results.
Verizon Mobile 5G
Mobile 5G service from Verizon began in early April 2019. Parts of 1,700 cities have access to 5G Ultra Wideband right now (here’s the map), including Chicago IL, Minneapolis MN, Denver CO, Providence RI, St. Paul MN, Atlanta GA, Detroit MI, Indianapolis IN, Washington DC, Phoenix AZ, New York City NY, Panama City FL, and others. All of Verizon’s plans, mobile and prepaid, include access to 5G Nationwide. The Play More, Do More, and Get More Unlimited plans include access to 5G Ultra Wideband. Visible Wireless uses Verizon’s towers for service and is also 5G-compatible.
AT&T
AT&T claimed nationwide 5G status in 2020. Beginning December 21, 2018, and continuing currently, the company offers mobile 5G in thousands of cities. 5G from AT&T is available in a few forms… One operates on the mmWave spectrum and is called 5G+. It’s available in over 50 cities, including parts of Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, West Hollywood, Jacksonville, Orlando, Atlanta, Las Vegas, New York City, King of Prussia, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Waco, and others. Their low-band 5G network works in over 22,000 cities and towns, including Birmingham AL, Indianapolis IN, Los Angeles CA, Milwaukee WI, Pittsburgh PA, Providence RI, Rochester NY, San Diego CA, San Francisco CA, San Jose CA, Wichita KS, Dayton OH, Boston MA, Allentown PA, Brown County IN, Hancock County GA, Hancock County OH, Harrisburg PA, Topeka KS, Trenton NJ, and others. AT&T 5G+ using C-Band spectrum sits between those other two types, provides a combination of ultra-fast speeds and wide coverage. AT&T 5G+ mid-band is a bit of both, so it provides a combination of speeds and wide coverage. See AT&T Maps for a detailed look at the coverage area.
T-Mobile & Sprint
T-Mobile launched their nationwide 5G network on December 2, 2019, and continues to add more locations to its coverage area. The Metro by T-Mobile prepaid service started offering access to the 5G network on December 6, 2019. Sprint and T-Mobile merged into one company. If you’re a Sprint user, depending on the phone you have, you’ve lost 5G coverage in some areas where service was previously available. In April 2021, T-Mobile Home Internet launched, which brings 100 Mbps speeds directly to eligible homes. At launch, over 30 million homes were eligible to sign up. T-Mobile has confirmed that on the 600 MHz spectrum, one 5G tower can transmit signals over one thousand square miles. Users can one day expect to achieve an average download speed of 450 Mbps, with maximum 5G speeds around 4 Gbps by 2024. Google Fi and Simple Mobile are providers that use T-Mobile’s towers, so they also offer nationwide 5G service.
UScellular
UScellular’s next-gen internet service began on March 6, 2020, and works in parts of Iowa, Wisconsin, Maine, North Carolina, California, Oregon, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Washington, and other states. It’s available through all of their plans. See the coverage map for details. The company began testing 5G for fixed wireless access in 2016 with Nokia, followed by rural and urban 5G testing with Ericsson in 2017. In early 2019, they again tested various 5G use cases with Ericsson, like virtual reality, augmented reality, and massive MIMO, in both urban and rural areas. Their 5G Home Internet+ page advertises $50 /month plans. Here’s the current list of cities getting FWA next.
Dish
Dish launched a beta version of their 5G network in September 2021. There’s a separate website called Project Genesis where you can check availability using your address. It runs on AT&T’s network. Service started in Las Vegas in May 2022, and expanded to more than 120 cities by mid-June 2022, which is over 20 percent of the US population. They plan to cover 70 percent of the population by June 2023.
C Spire
C Spire, the largest privately held wireless provider in the US, launched a 5G fixed wireless access service in December 2018. It’s available for select customers across Mississippi. Check their 5G availability to see if next-gen service is offered where you live, or fill out this form to express your interest in getting it in your neighborhood. It’s said to offer no data cap, no installation fee, and no long-term contract, for $50 /month with 120 Mbps download speeds. You can get it free by becoming a 5G Internet Hub Home, which is where you agree to let the company attach the appropriate equipment to your house which is then relayed to your neighbors, thus extending their network. The 5G FWA service uses 28 GHz equipment provided by Phazr. Despite the standard service speed set at 120 Mbps, users have reportedly been able to achieve download speeds of up to 750 Mbps and upload speeds as fast as 600 Mbps, with latency as low as 8 ms. The company’s president says that C Spire “plans to deploy fixed wireless internet service to thousands of consumers and businesses across the state over the next several years.” In October 2020, C Spire rolled out mobile 5G in Mississippi. Brookhaven and Columbus were chosen as the initial 5G markets. In 2021, they unveiled a $1B investment to accelerate deployment in Mississippi and Alabama.
Charter
Charter’s Spectrum Mobile is rolling out services across dozens of cities, including Omaha, Dallas, Boston, Detroit, Washington D.C., St. Paul, Denver, Miami, Spokane, and Kansas City. Check specific coverage with their 5G map. Customers on their unlimited plan can get 5G service for no additional cost.
Comcast
Comcast (Xfinity) offers 5G through an MVNO agreement with Verizon. It’s included in their data plans at no extra charge. Their 5G network has been available nationwide since October 14, 2020. Check out Xfinity’s network page to see where service is available now and to shop for a plan.
Starry
Starry has fixed 5G services available in Boston MA, Denver CO, Los Angeles CA, New York City NY, and Washington DC. The 5G plan is $50 /month for 200 Mbps speeds and no data cap. The company has plans to bring 5G to homes in other US cities, but it’s unclear when it will take place. They include Cleveland OH, Chicago IL, Houston TX, Dallas TX, Seattle WA, Detroit MI, Atlanta GA, Indianapolis IN, San Francisco CA, Philadelphia PA, Miami FL, Memphis TN, Phoenix AZ, Minneapolis MN, Manchester NH, Portland OR, and Sioux Falls SD. Starry Connect is a program that provides free or low-cost 5G internet to buildings in low-income areas. See Starry: Technology to learn more about how they’re implementing 5G.
Nex-Tech Wireless
Nex-Tech Wireless and Ericsson reached a deal in April 2020 to deliver 5G. In March 2020, they were deploying 5G-ready sites, and in late 2021 began offering 5G service in these areas of the United States.
US Mobile
US Mobile is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) that operates on Verizon’s and T-Mobile’s networks. 5G is available on all of their plans.
Mint Mobile
5G became available from Mint Mobile in July 2020. Since it uses T-Mobile’s network, it’s available from those same cities. It’s free on all their plans. You can read more about it, and find compatible devices, on their Mint Mobile 5G page.
Boom! Mobile
Boom! Mobile runs their service using other networks’ towers, and one option they have is 5G. Boom! Red is the plan type that supports 5G.
Cricket Wireless
Piggybacking on AT&T’s network, Cricket Wireless has been offering 5G since August 21, 2020. Access is now available on all plans with a 5G-compatible device. For details on where those devices can reach 5G speeds, see the Cricket Wireless coverage map.
Cellcom
Cellcom’s 5G network is available in parts of Wisconsin. See their 5G devices for your options.
