In a tweet on Sunday, which was spotted by The Verge, Verizon Wireless Customer Support suggested its users having 5G access on their smartphones (available in some newer phones) to switch to LTE connectivity to preserve battery life in case of battery drainage. The original tweet to preserve battery life by switching to LTE is no longer available and has been since deleted. “Are you noticing that your battery life is draining faster than normal?” Verizon wrote in the tweet. “One way to help conserve battery life is to turn on LTE. Just go to Cellular > Cellular Data Options > Voice & Data and tap LTE,” read the now-deleted tweet. While the company was cautious enough to not actually tell its customers to “turn off 5G”, by turning on LTE, one would be effectively shutting off 5G. A Verizon Twitter follower pointed out the conflict between the company aggressively promoting “new 5G ultra-speedy phones” and also advising on battery drain issues by turning off 5G. Although the customer support ignored the advice given for troubleshooting battery drain issues, it instead replied to the Verizon Twitter follower saying, “It’s important that we complete many troubleshooting steps to find the root cause of any issues with speed. We are quickly launching more 5G areas, and making updates constantly to improve speeds. If you have other questions or concerns, please feel free to follow and DM us. *ACA.”
— Verizon Wireless CS (@VZWSupport) February 28, 2021 Currently, Verizon uses a technology called DSS for its nationwide 5G networks, which offer speeds close to or lower than 4G LTE and extremely fast millimeter wave frequencies that face significant coverage challenges. The telecom company has spent more than $45.4 billion for 3,500 licences — twice as much as its rival’s AT&T’s $23.4 billion — for the bidding on the C-band spectrum in the FCC’s Auction 107. The C-band spectrum won at auction includes airwaves in the 3.7GHz-3.98GHz range. Therefore, Verizon’s suggestion to turn off 5G access and switch to LTE connectivity to preserve battery life seems a bit weird. The company has not yet provided any clarification on this issue.
