NEW YORK -- 5G Transport & Networking Strategies -- Verizon's Glenn Wellbrock said here Tuesday that one of the next important updates for the operator is to integrate millimeter wave radios with baseband unit (BBU) infrastructure in 2019.

"We think this is what it is going to take to make millimeter wave scalable," Wellbrock said. Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) has just launched its "5G Home" service using 28GHz for fixed broadband services in four US markets. (See Verizon's Home-Grown 5G Arrives Today.)

Figure 1: Wellbrock at The Westin The Verizon exec talks about the state-of-the-art in network infrastructure in 5G...so far.

The integration will help cut the cost of cable deployment at the cell site, and lessen processing times, as shown by Wellbrock's slide:

Figure 2: Initials BB This is one 5G integration option. The 3GPP is also examining 5G mmWave integrated with backhaul. There's no word yet on when that integration might be available.

Verizon is expecting to launch 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) 5G New Radio (NR) mobile 5G next year. To do that, the operator will need to deploy many more radios for coverage than it initially needs for its very targeted fixed service.

"We're working with vendors on it," Wellbrock said of the integration.

Verizon so far offers fixed 5G with promised downloads of 300-Mbit/s to 1-Gbit/s. In other words, enough capacity to download movies or support multiple devices in home.

The operator hasn't gone public with its expected downloads for the mobile network, but they should be comparable with its fixed offering.

— Dan Jones, Mobile Editor, Light Reading