Telecom Lead America: Wireless major Sprint expects
to cover over 123 million Americans by end of this year. And, by the end of
next year they expect that figure to climb to 250 million Americans.
Furthermore, the carrier said that it will launch 4G LTE
network that will cover five to six cities initially.
The carrier is moving ahead under its Network Vision
plan, which was originally announced in December 2010. Sprint is consolidating
multiple network technologies into one seamless network with the goal of
increasing efficiency and enhancing network coverage, call quality and data
speeds for customers across the United States.
Presently, Sprint’s rival Verizon covers more than 200
million people and it expect to reach 260 million people by the end this
Christmas. AT&T covers less than 75 million people with 4G LTE.
The carrier expects to launch CDMA-LTE devices by mid-2012, with approximately 15
devices coming throughout the year – including handsets, tablets and data
cards. Additionally, CDMA-WiMAX 4G devices, like HTC EVO 4G, Samsung Epic 4G
Touch and Nexus S 4G, will continue to be sold throughout 2012.
Speaking on the 4G deployments, senior vice president of
Sprint’s Network said that 2014 will be the big year of the company.
Sprint will begin a national rollout of LTE on its
1900MHz spectrum. Sprint plans to launch 4G LTE on its 1900MHz spectrum by
midyear 2012 and complete the network build-out by the end of 2013. By the
conclusion of 2013, Sprint’s 4G coverage footprint is expected to cover more
than 250 million people.
There are reports, saying that Sprint is going to turn on
4G LTE in the 800 MHz band. The 800 MHz spectrum is currently being used for
iDEN, better known as push to talk.
Less than 6 million people are currently using that
network. Once Sprint moves some of their 4G LTE to that band however,
they’ll be much better able to compete with the likes of AT&T and Verizon,
who own spectrum in the 700 MHz band.
Sprint to expand 4G LTE services in 2012
A few months back, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse announced that
customers in Dallas, Atlanta, Houston and San Antonio are expected to be among
the first to benefit from 4G LTE and improved 3G coverage in the first half of
2012.
The launch of these metropolitan areas marks the next
step in the company’s overall network strategy, also known as Network Vision.
Sprint customers can expect to enjoy ultra-fast data speeds, improved 3G voice
and data quality, and stronger in-building signal penetration providing a more
reliable wireless experience.
