GET READY FOR 5G

Verizon on Tuesday announced that it was accelerating its efforts to boost wireless connections to 50 times faster than current offerings.

The company has begun putting the components in place to enable it to begin field testing a new, speedier wireless technology, known as "5G," next year.

"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 and mobilize the ecosystem by collaborating with industry leaders and developers to usher in a new generation of innovation."


Verizon and its partners -- Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, Ericsson, Nokia, Qualcomm and Samsung -- last month kicked off a 5G forum and began forming teams to accelerate development of the next-generation mobile technology.

The 5G Technology Forum includes a group of venture capitalists focused on a variety of emerging technologies.

Verizon's move to accelerate 5G development in the United States will keep the nation competitive in the global communication market, said Rima Qureshi, chief strategy officer for Ericsson.

"A lot of development and requirements for 5G networks have so far come from Asian operators," she said. "It's exciting to see a U.S. company accelerate the rate of innovation and introduce new partners."