(Reuters) - U.S. wireless carrier Sprint Corp said on Monday it plans to release 5G smartphones with Samsung Electronics Co Ltd in the United States during the summer.
Last month, rival Verizon Communications Inc disclosed similar plans for the first half of 2019. 5G can offer data speeds up to 50 or 100 times faster than current 4G networks.
As part of the rollout, Sprint plans to include nine U.S. cities- Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, New York City, Phoenix and Washington D.C.
Meanwhile, tech giant Apple Inc is planning to wait until at least 2020 to release its 5G iPhones, Bloomberg reported last month, citing sources.
Apple's delay makes it easier for Samsung and Verizon to win customers who are eager to connect to 5G networks.
Shares of the company were up 1 percent at $6.28 in morning trading.
(Reporting by Vibhuti Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)
