Verizon surprises with ongoing delays in 5G standalone rollout

Verizon said it does not yet have any commercial traffic traveling over its 5G standalone core, a situation that has surprised some industry analysts and seemingly runs counter to indications that it had already launched commercial standalone 5G services.

“We have it in trials only at this point. We don’t have it commercially available for our customers,” Verizon’s chief networking executive, Joe Russo, said on a podcast last month hosted by Recon Analytics. “So more to come in the next several months as Verizon will be entering the standalone core game.”

When questioned about Russo’s comments, Verizon spokesperson Kevin King clarified that “we have commercial traffic running on our 5G non standalone core. That is what we announced earlier in the year. Joe was referring to our 5G standalone core which is in testing now.”

Earlier this year Verizon issued a press release describing the benefits of 5G standalone (SA) technology and how it’s “what sets Verizon apart.” However, the release doesn’t specifically say that Verizon launched the technology.

But last year Mobile World Live reported that Verizon was migrating “commercial traffic onto SA 5G core.” The article cited an unnamed Verizon representative. Mobile World Live also reported that Ericsson, Casa Systems, Oracle and Nokia supply Verizon’s 5G core.

Moreover, some top Verizon executives seemed to indicate as recently as September that Verizon was funneling commercial traffic onto its standalone 5G core.

“People talk about the standalone core. Just terminology-wise, that’s the 5G core essentially. If you guys have read the stuff we’ve said publicly, certainly we serve some customers on portions of our 5G core,” said Mike Haberman, Verizon’s SVP of strategy and transformation, during a webinar for analysts on September 29, obtained by Light Reading. “And then we have some internal stuff going on with other functionality on the core. We’re in the process of rolling out in a very smart fashion.”

Reading between the lines

A number of analysts contacted by Light Reading, including Dell’Oro Group’s Dave Bolan and Daryl Schoolar of Recon Analytics, were surprised to learn that Verizon does not have any commercial traffic traveling over its standalone 5G core. Dell’Oro Group, in January 2023, listed Verizon among the few North American wireless providers that had commercially launched the technology.

“This is a moving target,” Recon Analytics analyst Roger Entner told Light Reading. But Entner said Verizon’s position on the standalone version of 5G makes sense. “The benefits you can get today from standalone are limited.”

Standalone 5G has proven difficult for a number of operators. “The reason it is taking quite a while to roll out the 5G [SA] core is that’s a sea change in the underlying infrastructure,” said one European network operator executive last year.

To read the complete article, visit Light Reading.