Based on the company’s website, it delivers “optimized video and sound high quality on calling apps,” even in occasions of congestion. That won’t sound thrilling by itself. However below the hood, Verizon is utilizing community slicing to spice up video name efficiency, which is a brand new expertise solely potential on a standalone 5G community.
Not like remote robot banana surgery, community slicing is an actual advantage of 5G expertise that we are able to fairly anticipate to see in additional locations within the subsequent few years. Slicing lets community operators present the correct assets for sure sorts of demanding actions the place a robust connection is crucial. Proper now, which means boosting efficiency for video calls, however sooner or later it may imply with the ability to prioritize the information wanted to soundly information an autonomous automobile by an intersection.
The catch is that you simply want a standalone 5G community to tug this off, and far of the US’ 5G networks nonetheless function on 4G cores. T-Cellular has been in a position to transfer faster on this because of its Sprint acquisition, and it rolled out its first characteristic primarily based on slicing this fall with a service that gives priority to first responders. Verizon has been testing slicing for the past year or so, however that is its first rollout of a client characteristic primarily based on the expertise.
In an effort to strive Enhanced Video Calling out for your self, you must meet a particular set of necessities. It’s accessible in “more than 150 metro areas” right now, with extra to be added in 2025. However you additionally have to be on Verizon’s priciest plan, Limitless Final, which prices $90 per thirty days for one line with autopay. And also you’ll want an iPhone 14 or newer working iOS 18.2. Samsung Galaxy S23 and newer and Pixel 9 telephones shall be suitable too, however help for Android video calling apps on Android is arriving in 2025.
