Laptops that can connect to the emerging 5G network will be available this year. And when they appear, you will be able to get an always-connected PC through Sprint and Verizon.

The announcement comes from Qualcomm, which has been pushing an always-connected computing platform for both LTE and 5G connectivity for several years. Qualcomm said today (Feb. 25) during a presentation on 5G that Sprint and Verizon will be among 17 mobile operators worldwide to support the chipmaker's 5G connected PC plan. Other carriers supporting connected laptops include EE in Europe and wireless providers in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Australia.

Qualcomm introduced the Snapdragon 8cx chipset in 2018 to bring LTE connectivity to laptops and has since expanded its chip portfolio to bring connectivity to a wider range of laptops. This includes 5G as part of its Project Limitless initiative with Lenovo.

At CES 2020 last month, Lenovo unveiled the Yoga 5G laptop powered by a Snapdragon 8cx 5G processing platform. The device is priced at $1,499 and is expected to ship this spring.

Qualcomm's presentation today did not provide any new information on availability, other than promises by Sprint and Verizon to provide wireless service to this device and other 5G-connected PCs. An announcement is still awaited as to what data plans these carriers will offer for the always-connected laptops and whether the devices will be available on installment payment plans like 5G cell phones.

Both Verizon and Sprint are still building out their 5G networks, adding another layer of complexity to the launch of connected laptops. Verizon's 5G network is built on high-speed millimeter wave technology and is currently available in more than 30 U.S. cities. However, coverage is limited to some areas, and millimeter wave signals have difficulty reaching indoors.

Sprint's 5G network, on the other hand, uses mid-band frequency bands, which have a wider reach but slower speeds. Sprint launched service in nine cities last year and brought additional coverage to the Miami area ahead of this year's Super Bowl. Sprint's future 5G expansion is pending the completion of its merger with T-Mobile, which has its own 5G network.

However, Qualcomm emphasizes that 5G will continue to evolve and that the network will scale by 2020. This means that while millimeter wave will expand into different markets and different frequency bands, technologies such as dynamic spectrum sharing will allow wireless operators to upgrade their 4G coverage to 5G. However, since this is an ongoing process, it is unclear when 5G will become ubiquitous and when your laptop will have frequent access to a 5G connection.

Qualcomm demonstrated what 5G connectivity means for laptop users during its presentation today. One company executive used a Lenovo Yoga 5G notebook to edit raw, high-resolution video stored in the cloud using Adobe Premiere Pro. This is a task typically left to workstations, not laptops. [At Qualcomm's 5G event, Mark Linton, general manager of Portfolio & Solutions at Microsoft, said, "With 5G, we will increasingly see amazingly fast speeds." At Qualcomm's 5G event, Mark Linton, general manager of portfolio and solutions at Microsoft, said, "For us, there is a huge opportunity for PC customers to be unleashed."