T-Mobile was the only company to kick off its 5G deployment without reliance on 4G in 2020. This kind of 5G is called 5G SA, and it unlocks a lot of new capabilities. Verizon and AT&T, on the other hand, leveraged legacy 4G assets to quickly bring 5G to their customers.
The two have been steadily transitioning to 5G SA, but enterprise customers got the first dibs. Verizon is now turning on 5G SA for household customers, per Fierce Wireless.
Market research firm Dell’Oro Group’s director Dave Bolan says that Verizon‘s 5G SA has been live for consumers in Redwood City, California, since at least September 18.
Apple’s 2025 smartwatch lineup may have compelled Verizon to speed up the deployment. The Watch Series 11, Watch SE 3, and Watch Ultra 3, which went on sale on September 19, are among the first smartwatches to support Reduced Capability (RedCap) 5G. It’s a scaled-down version of 5G for wearables, but can only be offered on a 5G SA network.
Verizon previously said that Apple watches on its network would support RedCap capabilities.
Bolan added that 5G SA was running on two frequency bands, which should allow Verizon users to enjoy wide 5G coverage. In areas with no 5G SA, the watches will fall back to LTE.
I have seen 5G SA available on the 3700 MHz mid-band spectrum as well as in the 850 MHz band, giving wide coverage for the new 5G Smartwatches by Apple. Of course, the watches also have LTE and can still operate where there is no 5G SA coverage.
–Dave Bolan, Dell’Oro Group director, September 2025
Verizon’s 5G SA has been lit up in California. | Image Credit – Fierce Wireless
AT&T has also been moving its customers to its 5G SA network, and has confirmed that Apple’s new watch will be supported by RedCap.
Verizon and AT&T customers should expect better download and upload speeds and improved latency after 5G SA activation in their area. In addition to RedCap, 5G SA also paves the way for network slicing. It’s also the precursor to 5G Advanced, which is a faster and more reliable version of 5G. T-Mobile deployed 5G Advanced across the US in April.
Verizon and AT&T have only now started migrating customers to 5G SA, so it could be a while before we see them offering 5G Advanced. Nonetheless, customers should expect a better connectivity experience, given that native 5G brings benefits not available with non-standalone (NSA) 5G.
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