Device and network launch coming in H1 2019
Sprint is planning to launch commercial 5G services in nine cities in the first half of 2019. And the carrier has been working with device OEM LG to bring to market a compatible handset. Device technical specifications, price and availability haven’t been released yet.
Sprint plans to initially offer 5G in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, New York City, Phoenix and Washington, D.C. The carrier is deploying massive MIMO antennas in key markets around the country in an effort to simultaneously improve LTE performance while laying the groundwork for 5G.
CTO John Saw said in a statement, “LG has done tremendous work developing technical designs that enable us to be among the first movers in mobile 5G. Today’s announcement brings us one step closer to putting a beautifully-designed advanced 5G smartphone in our customers’ hands.”
AT&T plans to commercial mobile 5G by the end of this year and Verizon is working on fixed wireless residential broadband this year followed by mobile 5G next year. Verizon claimed a device first with Motorola’s moto z3 and a 5G modification that clips onto the device allowing it to use millimeter wave frequencies for high capacity throughput.
A Sprint spokeswoman said, “Unlike the recently announced Verizon phone that requires adding a ‘clip-on’ to an LTE phone, our first 5G product is a fully featured smartphone with 5G built in.”
Saw described massive MIMO as a “secret weapon” during an interview with RCR Wireless News earlier this year. “What we can do is we can use the…massive MIMO radios, split it physically in two, then allocate some spectrum for LTE and 5G, then simultaneously broadcast in both modes. As we add more to the 2.5 GHz, and we can densify with LTE and add 5G at the same time, we call it killing two birds with one stone.”
At a 5G-related event in May, Sprint Chief Strategy Officer Kevin Crull teased the just announced phone as plus-size.
