Verizon wireless network
The most expensive and historically most reliable US network. Premium postpaid plus a deep MVNO bench (Visible, Total, US Mobile, Spectrum, Xfinity, Cox, plus older TracFone-family brands).
Quick facts
| Type | Mobile Network Operator (MNO) — owns spectrum and towers |
|---|---|
| 5G branding | 5G UW (Ultra Wideband) |
| 5G launch | 2019 (mmWave-first), 2022 (C-band) |
| Plans on this network | 31 in our database |
| Cheapest plan | Red Pocket 3GB — $15.00/mo |
Spectrum tiers
The Verizon network operates across three frequency tiers, each with its own reach-vs-speed trade-off. See our 5G primer for what these mean in practice.
| Low-band | n5 (850 MHz), n13 (700 MHz) — broad reach, modest speeds (50–200 Mbps) |
|---|---|
| Mid-band | n77 (3.7 GHz / C-band), some n2 (1.9 GHz) — ~1 mile reach, fast speeds (200–700 Mbps) |
| mmWave | n260 (39 GHz), n261 (28 GHz) — line-of-sight only, gigabit speeds |
Carriers and MVNOs riding this network
All 11 active brands in our database that use Verizon's towers and spectrum. Carrier-owned brands sit higher in the deprioritization queue during congestion than third-party MVNOs.
- Verizon (MNO — owns the network)
- Consumer Cellular (MVNO)
- Net10 (MVNO)
- Red Pocket (MVNO)
- Spectrum Mobile (MVNO)
- Straight Talk (MVNO)
- Total by Verizon (MVNO)
- TracFone (MVNO)
- US Mobile (MVNO)
- Visible (MVNO)
- Xfinity Mobile (MVNO)