America’s top-ranked carrier, Verizon Wireless, has received governmental approval for emergency spectrum in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
Big Red now has emergency spectrum to allow more customers to use more 4G LTE. The emergency spectrum comes courtesy of smaller carriers Northstar Wireless and SNR Wireless License Co. Verizon only has access to this new spectrum for 60 days, however. After the 60-day deadline, there could be extensions. US President Donald Trump has said that the coronavirus pandemic could last until late summer (July or August).
Why additional spectrum?
Why is Verizon requesting additional spectrum? There are two reasons. First, Verizon’s mmWave spectrum, faster than all other spectrum in the carrier industry, isn’t far-reaching. It works excellent in close proximities but not across large-scale distances.
Verizon touts its mmWave spectrum as the best in the business, and its 4G LTE as the fastest one can get. Current commercials from the top carrier state that its LTE is faster than T-Mobile’s 5G network in terms of speed and performance. But Verizon’s network has a congestion problem. With so many Americans turning to Verizon for quality service, its network has a lot of customers and not enough data to handle them all.
Verizon has had congestion issues on its network for years now. When one adds the current coronavirus pandemic to the equation, the situation becomes even worse. Think of it: students are out of classes and must complete the remainder of their semester online.
Parents are possibly out of work for two weeks and must find something to occupy their time. Some parents are having to educate their young ones online in order to keep them busy. With all the video and TV watching, online assignment uploading and downloading, social media, email sending, and video chat demands, more spectrum is needed to maintain a certain quality experience.
Verizon closes its stores to aid social distancing
In other Verizon news, Big Red is closing a majority of its retail stores to aid social distancing in light of the Trump administration’s mandate. The carrier has also signed the Keep Americans Connected Pledge. The Pledge is Verizon’s promise to neither disconnect service for customers unable to pay their bill nor to charge late fees for late payments.
The coronavirus pandemic has reached over 160 countries. Nearly 200,000 infections have occurred, with over 8,000 deaths. President Donald Trump says that coronavirus vaccine testing is going well. In light of the pandemic, Trump is declaring himself a wartime general and expanding governmental powers as wartime rules dictate.