Verizon hailed a “key milestone” after completing its 5G radio specifications, claiming to be the first US operator to do so.

In a statement, the company said the specifications provide guidelines to test and validate “crucial 5G technical components”, and will further allow industry partners to develop interoperable solutions and contribute to pre standing testing and fabrication.

The development comes after collaboration within Verizon’s 5G Technology Forum, which includes Cisco, Ericsson and Samsung, among others, which it said are working to define parameters for 5G specifications in advance of future standards.

Indeed, Verizon was first out of the blocks in the US to unveil 5G trial plans, announcing last September that it would hold field trials this year, which was followed by similar announcements from rivals AT&T and T-Mobile US.

Verizon added it had now entered pre-commercial 5G testing, which is underway across New Jersey, Massachusetts and Texas in the US.

During the testing process, the company said it had “validated numerous 5G technology enablers”, including wide bandwidth operation of several hundred MHz in size and carrier aggregation capabilities “substantially different from 4G”.

It also talked up the importance of international partnerships with its 5G development, following a recent alliance with South Korea’s KT on a “harmonised 5G specification.”

Adam Koeppe, VP network technology planning and the company’s lead on its 5G trial efforts, added that “the level of collaboration that we are seeing exceeds what we saw during 4G”.

“This agile way of developing the specification and working with the ecosystem will enable us to get to market rapidly,” he added.

Despite Verizon’s early advancements, the industry wide consensus suggests it won’t be until 2020 before the first fully commercial networks are launched. This will follow official ratification for a 5G standard from 3GPP in 2018.