Verizon to begin testing 5G network

Verizon announced that it will begin field-testing 5G network technology in 2016, aiming to have some part of its 5G network up and running for commercial use by 2017. That's way sooner than the 2020 date that most of the wireless industry had been targeting for 5G.

"5G is no longer a dream of the distant future," said Roger Gurnani, chief information and technology architect for Verizon. "We feel a tremendous sense of urgency to push forward on 5G ... to usher in a new generation of innovation." Verizon says its 5G technology will have 50 times the capacity of its current 4G network and be able to "handle exponentially more Internet-connected devices." In early tests, 5G has provided speeds of up to 40 times faster than 4G.