Verizon: We're Flooding the Zones With 5G

pcmag.com:

Verizon's plan to cover 175 million people with C-band 5G by the end of the year is focused on the 46 existing economic areas the company is licensed to cover, which means those 46 regions are going to see complete coverage by the end of the year, Verizon's VP of technology development and planning, Bill Stone, told PCMag after the company's analyst day yesterday.

"It's about getting to 175 million of the 191 million [people in the 46 regions]," Stone said.

Verizon's big 5G expansion currently relies on its new mid-band, "C-band" airwaves. The satellite firms that formerly held them are required to release them in two bunches. The first group, 100MHz split 60/40 between Verizon and AT&T, is only available in 46 partial economic areas (PEAs). That includes most of the nation's largest cities and surrounding rural areas, but not Denver, Washington D.C., or Atlanta, for instance.

You can see the 46 areas Verizon owns on Spectrum Omega's interactive map by choosing "3.7GHz (C-Band)" and the "A1-Int" block. We also have a list of Verizon C-band phones.

The second set of zones, with more airwaves and the rest of the country, is required to be cleared by the end of 2023. But some analysts, such as Recon Analytics' Roger Entner, have suggested Verizon will pay satellite companies to vacate the space early, as T-Mobile did with TV stations in its 600MHz spectrum.

The "top 46 or not" debate is extremely important because if Verizon sticks to its 46 areas, it's seeking 92% population coverage (175/191) by the end of the year. But if it gets access to more metros this year by convincing satellite companies to clear the spectrum early, it could achieve its goals with less dense coverage.

Entner says Verizon will "soon" expand beyond