Sprint has officially launched its commercial 5G service in four markets, with 5G availabile in the Kansas City, Missouri area as well Atlanta, Georgia and Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas and touting a “true mobile 5G experience.” Devices will start selling on Friday, with Sprint’s 5G offerings including the LG V50 ThinQ 5G and the HTC 5G Hub, and the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G expected to arrive this summer.
Sprint executives sent a steady stream of tweets as the carrier made final preparations for its launch announcement.
So glad to land in Dallas after multiple flight delays today. Final checks looking good for the big day .. pic.twitter.com/bz7ySbV4TK
— John Saw (@JohnSaw) May 30, 2019
Today is one of the most exciting days I’ve had at @Sprint so far – excited to take the stage in Dallas to launch our first 5G market! #Sprint5G 📶⚡! pic.twitter.com/PcR22k18W6
— Michel Combes (@MichelCombes) May 30, 2019
Here in #DFW to celebrate the kickoff of #Sprint5G 📶⚡! With ~575 square miles covered in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, @Sprint customers with a capable device can experience a truly mobile #5G network. pic.twitter.com/ENJaT9A8FP
— John Saw (@JohnSaw) May 30, 2019
I am thrilled to announce @Sprint’s truly mobile #5G network is up in our initial launch cities. #Sprint5G 📶⚡ will cover ~2,180 square miles in our 9 launch cities. That’s the largest initial 5G footprint in the US. https://t.co/onLUXk2P0z pic.twitter.com/qgX1kmzzF7
— John Saw (@JohnSaw) May 30, 2019
And tomorrow, we’ll have our first #Sprint5G 📶⚡ devices available for customers – the @LGUSAMobile #V50ThinQ 5G and the @HTCUSA #HTC5GHub. We also have more devices coming this summer! https://t.co/zVt3Py0lOi pic.twitter.com/rnnETGss07
— Michel Combes (@MichelCombes) May 30, 2019
This is only the beginning – in the coming weeks, we’ll light up #Sprint5G 📶⚡ in areas of #Chicago, #LA, #NYC, #Phoenix and #WashingtonDC, giving @Sprint the LARGEST initial #5G rollout in the U.S., covering ~2,180 sq. mi. and 11.5 MILLION people! https://t.co/RI7PoAAQQy pic.twitter.com/USHfIcmctF
— Michel Combes (@MichelCombes) May 30, 2019
The launch event in Dallas also included a bus tour with members of the media and analysts, in which screens displayed available 5G speeds as the vehicle moved around the city.
Driving around Dallas in a bus, looking at Sprint’s 5G speeds and consistency. On the left is the download rate which we’ve seen top at +700Mbps so far. On the right is our route in green in 5G. When we switch to LTE, the route will turn black, but so far no switch yet. pic.twitter.com/ibil1mmaoJ
— Lynn La (@lynnlaaa) May 30, 2019
#5G #MassiveMIMO in action, Speed inside the vehicle crossing 700 Mbps on @sprint 5G network in Dallas #5Gishere
@SprintCTO @SullyRP @MichelCombes @cristianoamon @Qualcomm @Qualcomm_Tech pic.twitter.com/qb8a3uPGib
— Prakash Sangam #Vaxxed (@MyTechMusings) May 30, 2019
Sprint described its initial footprint as the largest U.S. 5G footprint at launch, with coverage of about 2,180 square miles and 11.5 million people total once the first nine markets are launched. In the first four markets, its footprint includes:
– In Kansas City, coverage of 625,000 people within about 225 square miles from downtown Kansas City, MO, to Sprint’s headquarters in Overland Park, Kansas.
-In the Atlanta area, Sprint covers an area from downtown Atlanta to Dunwoody that includes about 150 square miles and 565,000 people.Â
-In the greater Dallas-Fort Worth area, Sprint says it is covering 1.6 million people and about 575 square miles. The carrier described its coverage in the area as including Irving and downtown Fort Worth, Las Colinas and the North Dallas area from Preston Hollow to Addison, as well as destinations including the Will Rogers Memorial Center, Montgomery Plaza, and Sundance Square in Fort Worth; Williams Square in Las Colinas; the Dallas medical district in the areas of UT Southwestern Medical Center and Children’s Medical Center of Dallas; and Village on the Parkway in Addison.
-In Houston, Sprint is covering 165 square miles and 800,000 people, in an area ranging from downtown Houston to Memorial City Mall and City Centre Plaza and around attractions including the Museum District, Houston Zoo, Medical Center and Memorial Park. Sprint said that its coverage includes Houston-area stadiums such as NRG Park, BBVA Compass, Minute Maid and Toyota Center; and the University of Houston, Rice University and Texas Southern University.Â
Sprint is leveraging its vast spectrum holdings at 2.5 GHz and split-mode capabilities of massive MIMO (multiple-input multiple-output) equipment to support both LTE and 5G NR simultaneously, with 60 megahertz of spectrum dedicated to each technology; the carrier has said that because it is deploying both technologies at 2.5 GHz and on existing LTE sites, it will have a “nearly identical” footprint for 2.5 GHz LTE and 5G New Radio.
Sprint expects to launch 5G service in areas of Chicago, Illinois; Los Angeles, California; New York City; Phoenix, Arizona and Washington, D.C. in the coming weeks.
