Verizon Bringing C-Band to Atlanta, Denver, DC in 2022

pcmag.com:

Verizon will launch its mid-band 5G in the major "missing" cities of Atlanta, Baltimore, Denver, and Washington D.C. this year, thanks to an agreement the carrier just made with satellite firms previously holding the spectrum.

The carrier will also expand its mid-band 5G bandwidth from 60MHz to 100MHz in some cities, it says. “This early spectrum clearance is just the latest development that allows us to bring 5G Ultra Wideband to our customers faster,” says Kyle Malady, EVP and President of Global Network and Technology. The company will cover "at least 30 additional major market areas" this year, it says, but it only named the ones above.

At least some of the spectrum comes from Luxembourg-based satellite firm SES, which will be paid up to $170 million by Verizon to speed up the clearing, SES says in a press release.

“Providing 5G services to as many Americans as soon as possible supports the US economy and enables the delivery of valuable services to the population. We will leverage the experience we have gained over the past year and shorten the clearing timeline for Verizon’s spectrum,” says Steve Collar, CEO at SES.

The C-band spectrum held mostly by Verizon and AT&T came in two phases. The first phase, released this year, let the carriers launch in 46 "partial economic areas," in which Verizon got 60MHz and AT&T got 40MHz. You can see those initial 46 areas by going to Spectrum Omega, scrolling down on the right and choosing "3.7GHz A1-Int."

Those areas most notably excluded Denver, Atlanta, and Washington/Baltimore, because those regions have concentrations of satellite ground stations, and the satellite firms said they needed more time to shift technology there. They also excluded Honolulu, which is highly