5G network to launch this month in Sioux Falls

The city of Sioux Falls is one of 20 cities that will experience 5G networks starting sometime later this month. It's expected that most of the U.S. will be covered by this new network by the end of next year.

Smartphones and technology could be getting a lot faster with the help of the new 5G network that's been installed throughout downtown Sioux Falls. At least 10 5G towers will be up by the month's end.

"Verizon is bringing 5G to Sioux Falls," Verizon Executive Vice President, Craig Silliman said.

"Today’s a huge day in the history of our city," Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken said.

Adding 5G technology to Sioux Falls has been an 18-month process that is finally coming to a close.

"To be one of the first 20 cities in the country to have a live and active 5G network is going to mean a lot for this city. On innovation, on workforce development, business development and moving our city forward progressively in a technological fashion," Mayor TenHaken said.

Each generation gives the consumer faster data, web browsing and downloading speeds, but it means more than that.

"5G is so much more than faster internet speeds for your home or faster Netflix streaming. I mean you can already stream so how much faster does that need to be?" Mayor TenHaken said.

"This is the first step in what I hope is a long path that gets us to higher speeds, more connectivity and that has lots of benefits for South Dakota," South Dakota Senator John Thune said.

Mayor TenHaken said this announcement puts Sioux Falls on the map as a technological leader in the country. He and Senator Thune were among the firsts to experience exactly how fast it actually works.

"We're getting speeds of a gigabit per second so put that into context. Most people in their home wiring broadband services never use more than about 50 megabits per second," Silliman said.

"What this will do is create a whole level of innovation, ideas, and concepts we don't even know exist yet," Mayor TenHaken said.

And other countries are right behind the U.S. trying to launch their own 5G networks.

"China is just really aggressive and they're throwing the switch in Beijing today and we're throwing the switch in South Dakota which I think is a remarkable story," Senator Thune said.

It was announced this Friday afternoon that 5G will begin later this month. To get these new 5G speeds you will need a 5G capable smartphone.

For years most cellphones have operated on 4G networks that provided a limited bandwidth, but now with 5G, it will widen up the range.