Residents in parts of Iowa and Wisconsin will gain access to 5G service on the U.S. Cellular network in the first quarter of 2020, the nation’s fifth-largest mobile operator announced today. The company says it’s embarking on a multi-year network expansion effort that will begin with an initial 5G deployment on its 600 MHz spectrum.

Iowa and Wisconsin are two of U.S. Cellular’s largest markets, and the operator is trying to differentiate itself from the big four nationwide operators by bringing 5G to urban and rural communities that have yet to be targeted by the likes of AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile US, and Verizon.

The first Iowa cities to gain access to the 5G network include Cedar Rapids, Davenport, Des Moines, Dubuque, and Waterloo. Slightly northeast and in some cases less than 100 miles away in Wisconsin, U.S. Cellular is preparing to deploy 5G in Green Bay, Madison, Milwaukee, Oshkosh, and Racine.

The Chicago-based operator, which has roughly 5 million customers, has maintained relatively flat capital expenditures since 2015, but U.S. Cellular’s network improvements will necessitate an increase of 21% to 40% this year, coming in at between $625 million and $725 million, according to the company. The operator hasn't committed to a date for delivering 5G across its entire network, but says it plans to reach as many of its customers as possible during the "coming years."

While that level of investment pales in comparison to the roughly $23 billion AT&T plans to spend and nearly $18 billion Verizon has pegged for network improvements this year, U.S. Cellular’s push into 5G is notable because it underlines a market-wide update in network capabilities.

“We are committing capital to a multi-year project to modernize our entire network so it is ready for 5G [New Radio],” U.S. Cellular CTO Mike Irizarray said during the company’s most recent earnings call, according to a Seeking Alpha transcript. “The modernization project will use various technologies including 4x4 [multiple-input, multiple-output; LTE license assisted access, 256 quadrature amplitude modulation], and LTE-M.”

The operator previously announced deals with Ericsson and Nokia to supply software and 5G NR equipment for its network with initial deployments slated for the second half of this year but those plans have been pushed back to early 2020. U.S. Cellular is in the process of replacing base stations with new equipment that will enable the operator to activate new 5G services via software upgrades, according to the company. It’s also placing millimeter-wave (mmWave) radios at higher elevations on towers in rural areas to improve coverage.

"We are launching on our 600 MHz spectrum solely for 5G and we plan to initially install [mmWave] transmitters on our macro towers and then later on our small cells to densify our network," a company spokesperson wrote in response to questions. "We expect to augment our network with mid- and high-band spectrum over time as the technology and use cases continue to evolve," Irizarry added in a prepared statement.

During the company’s last earnings call in August, Irizarray reiterated that the operator is focusing on its largest markets first. “We are pacing [network] investments so we are ready when our customers are ready. This multi-year approach has served us well with previous generation technology deployments such as [voice-over-LTE], 4G, and 3G,” he said.

The network operator is also upgrading the core of its network with software, he explained. “We are pleased with our progress to date. Our infrastructure vendors thus far are meeting our hardware delivery needs. We have started the tower work required to support the new antennas and coax lines at the cell sites, and we are making good progress upgrading the key components of the network core.”