Even when they are not directly adjacent to a cell tower, Verizon claims that consumers in “many areas throughout the US” might experience much higher 5G speeds. This is made feasible, according to a press statement on Monday, by Verizon’s deployment of more C-band spectrum; for some places, the carrier is now using 100 MHz of capacity rather than 60 MHz. The business claims that some engineers had download rates of up to 1.4 Gigabits per second while they were “near active cell sites,” dropping to 500 Mbps once they were “far away from the towers.”

Theoretically, users of Verizon’s ultra wideband network might obtain speeds greater than that, but doing so would need millimeter wave technology. However, such technology is only accessible in a few number of locations, and even then, in order to utilize it, you will probably need to be essentially in the line of sight of the tower. Theoretically, C-band should be able to offer faster speeds even if you are not immediately adjacent to the cell towers.

However, he said that the firm has “100MHz of spectrum accessible in the 30 areas” it obtained access to earlier this year. Verizon spokesperson Kevin King declined to specify to The Verge exactly where the new spectrum is being activated today. The company’s agreement with the Federal Aviation Administration to establish buffer zones around airports for aircraft whose equipment can be impacted by cellular signals places certain restrictions on where and when it can roll out C-band service over the course of the next year.

Faster speeds are exciting, but Verizon is also promising that the additional spectrum will have other advantages. According to the business, the 100 MHz rollouts should offer enough bandwidth for items like its 5G home internet and allow its network to accommodate additional people.

After spending billions to acquire the rights to utilize those airwaves, the corporation has been promising for some time that it will deploy an increasing amount of its C-band spectrum. In a press statement on Monday, it reiterated its aspirations to eventually use frequencies up to 200 MHz instead of the 100 MHz it is now utilizing in some locations.

However, the business has increased the cost of some of its programs as it has grown its 5G network. However, Verizon doesn’t really link the two; instead, it cites “economic conditions” and “costs of complying with regulatory standards” as the reasons for higher rates. However, even if their plans aren’t changing, the end result is that users aren’t exactly receiving better speeds for free. Not all Verizon 5G plans allow you access to the ultra wideband network and its 500 Mbps download speeds, so keep that in mind as well. Check out our article on phone plans here if you want more details on that.