Verizon cleared a major hindrance to its fixed wireless access (FWA) 5G home broadband ambitions, making long-awaited hardware available which executives previously stated was needed to improve deployment economics.

The operator stated the 5G Internet Gateway router offers typical data rates of 300Mb/s and a maximum of 1Gb/s, with self-installation guidance offered through an app.

PCMag reported the customer-premises equipment (CPE) uses Qualcomm’s QTM527 antenna.

Frank Boulben, SVP of consumer marketing and products at Verizon, hailed the router as a “game-changer” for its customers, delivering more “flexibility and reliability”.

Verizon also added two new cities to its 5G Home Internet offering, bringing the total to eight.

It launched the service in 2018, but employed a proprietary 5G technology which required it to go back and upgrade early markets to 3GPP’s new radio standard.

Verizon consumer group CEO Ronan Dunne in May noted FWA launches will be driven by its mobile 5G deployments. Earlier this month he told investors the high-powered CPE was a “critical component” alongside expanded coverage of its mmWave network to achieve “the right yield per node”.

He reiterated Verizon’s plan to reach ten markets by end-2020 and pointed to 2021 as “an important year” for expansion of the service.