Verizon CEO: US Commercial 5G Starts in 2017Verizon CEO: US Commercial 5G Starts in 2017

Verizon's CEO says that the operator is ready to start testing 5G wireless technology early in 2016 with initial commercial deployments starting in 2017.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) CEO Lowell McAdam -- speaking at a Business Insider event in New York -- says that initial demonstrations will take place at the company's Basking Ridge, N.J. headquarters early next year. Limited pilots with select partners and users will then roll out in San Francisco, New York, and Boston in 2016.

McAdam says Verizon will start commercial deployment of 5G in 2017. He expects downloads for compatible smartphones to hit up to 1 Gbit/s, or 200 times faster than today's 4G services, the CEO claims.

Verizon is working with Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO), Ericsson AB (Nasdaq: ERIC), Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK), Samsung Corp. and Qualcomm Inc. (Nasdaq: QCOM) on 5G. Ericsson's CTO Ulf Ewaldsson told Light Reading in October that he expects to provide Verizon with "pre-5G" equipment for early tests. (See Ericsson CTO: Artificial Intelligence Will Make 5G Smarter.)