2015 focus on continued LTE expansion in 800 MHz, 1.9 GHz, 2.5 GHz bands
Sprint said it has met previous guidance on the expansion of its 2.5 GHz spectrum-powered LTE services, claiming to now cover 100 million potential customers. The carrier had forecast it would hit that mark by the end of the year.
The announcement came as part of an end-of-the-year roundup from Sprint Chief Network Officer John Saw on where the network is today and where the carrier expects it to be going into 2015. Those future goals include continued expansion of its 2.5 GHz coverage, with a focus on markets with exceedingly high “usage and capacity demands.” This would be part of the carrier’s previous plans to provide a “Tokyo-like” mobile broadband experience in densely populated markets by tapping into the experience of parent company Softbank.
Saw said Sprint’s 2.5 GHz coverage is now available in a total of 62 markets, providing access to higher network speeds that were central to the carrier’s Spark program. That offering is said to provide network speeds in excess of 50 megabits per second thanks to Sprint’s extensive 2.5 GHz spectrum holdings.
Sprint had initially talked about deploying the 2.5 GHz band across all of its planned LTE sites, even in rural areas where the propagation characteristics of that spectrum would not allow for broad coverage. However, recently installed CEO Marcelo Claure noted that the carrier will likely not follow such a rollout strategy, and instead would focus its 2.5 GHz efforts in denser, urban areas where the carrier is likely to see capacity constraints.
Softbank recently sent over reinforcements in the form of executives to help Sprint with its 2.5 GHz plans. Last month Nikesh Arora was appointed to Sprint’s board, having previously served as vice chairman at Softbank and CEO of Softbank Internet and Media. Prior to that, Softbank named current EVP and CTO Junichi Miyakawa to the newly created role of technical COO at Sprint. In the new position, Miyakawa will oversee the company’s network and technology organization, including related strategy, network operations and performance, and will lead Sprint’s relationships with “key network equipment vendors.”
Beyond the 2.5 GHz expansion, Saw noted the carrier plans to expand LTE services in the 800 MHz band across all of the markets in which the carrier has access to that spectrum. The 800 MHZ band is part of an ongoing nationwide rebanding process that will give Sprint access to 14 megahertz of contiguous spectrum in the 800 MHz band. The carrier is using that band to support CDMA2000 1x-Advanced technology for voice service – which Saw said was nearly complete nationwide – and LTE to support data.
Overall, Sprint said its LTE network was providing coverage across more than 260 million pops, mostly through the use of 10 megahertz of spectrum in the 1.9 GHz band. Independent speed tests have shown that Sprint’s LTE network is not nearly as extensive as those of its rivals, and where customers do have access to the LTE network, throughput speeds also fall short of those posted by competing LTE networks.
The carrier did not provide any update on additional overall LTE coverage for 2015, though it did note that it had signed up 27 carriers to its Rural Roaming Preferred Provider program that will help it extend LTE coverage to 38 million pops in 27 states.
Sprint’s network update came just days after smaller rival T-Mobile US provided a similar year-end progress report. T-Mobile US CTO Neville Ray said the carrier’s LTE network currently covers 260 million pops, matching Sprint, but well behind the more than 300 million pops covered by Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility. T-Mobile US was said to be on track to cover 280 million pops by mid-2015, with Ray expecting to have 300 million pops covered by the end of next year.
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