Verizon is once again serving its largest U.S. military customer with 4G and 5G updates across 35 U.S. Air Force bases
This is part of a plan to roll 5G in 84 Air Force and Space Force bases by 2028
A hybrid 5G network could be used in security-sensitive areas like work centers, an SNS Telecom analyst told us
Verizon is rolling out 4G and 5G enhancements at 35 Air Force bases for its "biggest 5G customer within the Department of Defense (DoD,)” according to consultancy SNS Telecom & IT.
“The engagement with Verizon is part of a broader effort - the "DAF Long Term Evolution 5G Initiative" - to bring 5G connectivity to 84 Air Force and Space Force installations by 2028,” said Asad Khan, SNS Telecom’s 5G research director in an email to Fierce. “In addition to Verizon, Boldyn Networks and other providers are also involved,” the analyst added.
Verizon told Fierce that since 2023, Verizon Business has announced close to $3.78 billion in contract awards with the U.S. DoD. The Verizon Air Force deal extends the public 5G and private 5G networks that have already been rolled out in 14 military bases by major operators in 2024.
The 35 new Air Force bases covered with 4G or 5G include Cape Canaveral, Eglin, Vandenberg and many others. “Some installations where 5G service is already operational include Luke Air Force Base (Arizona), Tyndall Air Force Base (Florida), Dobbins Air Reserve Base (Georgia), Moody Air Force Base (Georgia), Robins Air Force Base (Georgia), Grissom Air Reserve Base (Indiana), Minneapolis-St Paul Air Reserve Station (Minnesota), Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station (New York) and Shaw Air Force Base (South Carolina),” SNS’s Khan noted in an email, referencing the firm’s existing military base communications report.
So, are these networks a public 5G extension or a private 5G network? Many could be considered a public-private combination, Khan said. “While many may view this simply as an expansion of mobile operator RAN coverage, it could also be considered a hybrid public-private 5G implementation, with the potential to prioritize traffic and process data locally via on-premise user plane functionality for security-sensitive or time-critical use cases in work centers, training areas and along flightlines,” he said.
As the DoD is continuing with its military 5G push in 2025, we’ll see how further hybrid public-private 5G deployments happen over the course of the year.