The company said 5G expansion will take place in Parkston, Aberdeen and Pine Ridge, allowing those areas to receive 5G service for the first time, with the company vowing that its 5G Ultra Wideband "brings power and performance comparable to a wired broadband Internet connection to customers' pockets." The upgrades also include improvements in the Three Forks region of the Black Hills.
The company says its upgrades will allow "people to do things on their mobile device that many could only do before when connected to their home Internet service."
"This includes everything from downloading huge documents and streaming movies in HD audio and video, to playing console quality games and conducting video chats, video conferencing and FaceTime calls with clear sound and video," the company said.
"Verizon's expansion into more markets across South Dakota will bring enhanced connectivity across our state," said South Dakota Senate Majority Leader Casey Crabtree, R- Madison, in a statement. "This technology will not only bring faster speeds and more reliable connectivity, but expanding 5G service into more areas of South Dakota will fuel tourism in our state and unlock new opportunities for innovation and economic growth."
The deployments use Verizon's recently acquired C-band spectrum. Verizon will deploy 5G Ultra Wideband using up to 100 megahertz of C-Band spectrum in multiple South Dakota markets, and will add even more bandwidth once all of its licensed spectrum is made available. This additional bandwidth, which will be available at the end of this year, will provide exceptional speed and capacity.
Verizon said the addition of 5G service in South Dakota will result in exponential increases in data carried into and out of the cell sites serving the community, which requires upgraded fiber optic cable links, the company said.
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