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Dallas/Ft. Worth Network Vision/LTE Deployment schedule update


S4GRU

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by Robert Herron

Sprint 4G Rollout Updates

Monday, June 11, 2012 - 10:01 AM MDT

 

In our continuing Network Vision/LTE deployment schedule update series, S4GRU brings you the latest information for Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas. Sprint announced to the world early in Network Vision that the DFW market is one of their first LTE launches. Sprint boasted to the world that the Dallas area would be enjoying LTE and Network Vision enhancements by Mid 2012.

 

Sprint's Network Vision OEM Ericsson has been steadily deploying around the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex. As of this week, there are approximately 40 Network Vision sites broadcasting a LTE signal. These sites are all around the market from Waxahatchie to Sherman.

 

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Network Vision Sites in DFW. Forty sites are complete in the market. All of these broadcasting Sprint LTE, but being blocked from accessibility by Sprint.

 

40 Live LTE Sites, but still being blocked by Sprint

 

Despite the good news of these live LTE sites, Sprint is still actively blocking LTE connections. They originally planned to allow sites converted to Network Vision standards to go live immediately upon completion by the OEM Contractor. This is still the case with 3G EVDO and even CDMA 800 sites when they are completed. In Sprint's original Network Vision plans, they were also planning to allow 4G LTE signals to be handled the same way. Turn them on and allow them to be discovered prior to the formal market launch at 50% site completion.

 

Market Launch and Remaining Schedule

 

In recently seen correspondence, Sprint has decided to move up launches sooner than 50% completion. This is likely to maintain a Mid 2012 launch in markets that have already been announced...like Dallas. If they waited for 50% now, it would delay launch until September. In the case of the DFW market, should Sprint launch by Mid July, they would only be complete with approximately 30% to 35% of all NV sites. This doesn't sound like a lot, but it would provide pretty good coverage. A little known item is not even Verizon launches on all sites in a market initially. Usually less than 50%, then filling in with more and more sites every few months.

 

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Anticipated Sites Complete at Market Launch. According to the Network Vision schedules that S4GRU has reviewed, if Sprint launched the market on Mid July, these are the anticipated sites that would have LTE complete at that time. This would provide fairly good LTE coverage over many parts of the market.

 

At market launch, some areas will be well covered with LTE, and others may be kind of spotty. However, more sites will come online every week until the whole market is complete. And even with one or two bars of LTE signal on your device, you will still get speeds that are double to triple that of well performing 3G EVDO in most instances.

 

And speaking of 3G EVDO, Sprint is not reporting any of these live Network Vision sites are currently broadcasting EVDO, only LTE. According to the NV schedule, these should have started coming online in May. However, none have shown up as NV 3G active to date. We know the new backhaul is in place at these sites since they are broadcasting LTE. That most likely means that the Switch Center is not ready for these sites. A huge backlog of 3G sites will probably come online in this market suddenly when the network is ready.

 

The bottom line...

 

We currently do not have a date that Sprint will formally "launch" the Dallas/Ft. Worth market. We believe they are targeting a launch month of July based on internal Sprint documents. However, we hope that they will actually remove LTE blocking before the launch, since there are quite a few active LTE sites that can be used now in this market.

 

Sprint's Network Vision schedule for this market currently has 39 Network Vision sites complete. Ericsson is plotting continual progress from here with production ramping up to a rate of almost 70 sites per month. S4GRU has poured over the schedule in this market and sees a November 2012 completion date. In our estimation of the schedule, it appears that Ericsson is slightly behind in the market. But with the rate the schedule is supposed to pick up in June, Ericsson has ample opportunity to finish on time.

 

You Sprint LTE device holders will have to ride it out there in North Texas for a little while longer. Hopefully Sprint will lift the LTE Blockade soon. LTE everywhere, but not a bit to spare...from Sprint at any rate.

 

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Photo of Dallas skyline provided courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

 

NOTE: S4GRU Sponsor Members can track regular updates of

Network Vision sites completed nationwide. Completed sites are shown in an interactive Google Maps interface. Information about sponsorship can be found here: S4GRU Sponsorship

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Rob This is amazing. I was told by BIGAPPLEDUDE to come and check this out....wow.

 

However, here's my two cents. I just would like for Sprint to just turn on one city....just one. So I can see the stock jump up and to put Verizon and AT&T on notice...the (#!&%$'s!

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Rob This is amazing. I was told by BIGAPPLEDUDE to come and check this out....wow.However, here's my two cents. I just would like for Sprint to just turn on one city....just one. So I can see the stock jump up and to put Verizon and AT&T on notice...the (#!&%$'s!

 

Sounds good. I could go for that. Who is BIGAPPLEDUDE?

 

Robert

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Im sorry if my question is answered already in another area i just dont have the time to sit all day and read these forums as much as i want to. But ive noticed that in the DFW market that the tower locations are in areas of low and some in EXTREMELY low population areas as well as some more or less poverty areas and very little in the dense population areas ie around the dfw airport one of the worlds largest/bussiest airports theres nill and alot of the towns surrounding the airport are very dense with multi million dollar homes but you go to mansfield where i store my airplane and they will have lte it seems in mostly farm land as well as cleburne has 2 towers and im sorry but its a podunck town where I get hardly any cell reception lol why is this? and alo i do understand that they will be adding many more towers as they go along and some may also not have been reported yet. thnx

 

sent from vrznLTE Ipad3

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Im sorry if my question is answered already in another area i just dont have the time to sit all day and read these forums as much as i want to. But ive noticed that in the DFW market that the tower locations are in areas of low and some in EXTREMELY low population areas as well as some more or less poverty areas and very little in the dense population areas ie around the dfw airport one of the worlds largest/bussiest airports theres nill and alot of the towns surrounding the airport are very dense with multi million dollar homes but you go to mansfield where i store my airplane and they will have lte it seems in mostly farm land as well as cleburne has 2 towers and im sorry but its a podunck town where I get hardly any cell reception lol why is this? and alo i do understand that they will be adding many more towers as they go along and some may also not have been reported yet. thnx sent from vrznLTE Ipad3

 

It is because Network Vision involves tearing down every piece of equipment and every cable and cabinet at every site. It is not just adding LTE. Sprint is replacing its entire network and replacing with new state of the art multi-modal sites. This takes a lot of time per site and there is a huge learning curve when they get started.

 

And Sprint is starting the training and working with crews in less dense population areas on the outskirts and then working in.This result in a better and overall faster deployment. If they started in dense areas, any up front issues get magnified over a large customer base in a small area. Makes more sense to start in fringe rural areas.

 

There are a lot less sites in the outlier areas, so they are wrapping up fast and production is ramping up as the move inward. Progress will be rapid. Also, the FCC would probably take exception to your ideas for deployment. Focusing on wealthy and urban customers first is likely a violation of their rules.

 

Robert

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thanks robert makes alot of sense my only thing with the wealthy vs less wealthy areas is the simple fact that you dont see lambo or aston martin dealers in the rural less wealthy areas same thing with the verizon fios. the good news though is that there seems to be 2 towers in lewisville approx 5.3nm apart and i am smack in the middle of them. sent from vrznLTE Ipad3

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thanks robert makes alot of sense my only thing with the wealthy vs less wealthy areas is the simple fact that you dont see lambo or aston martin dealers in the rural less wealthy areas same thing with the verizon fios. the good news though is that there seems to be 2 towers in lewisville approx 5.3nm apart and i am smack in the middle of them. sent from vrznLTE Ipad3

 

I'm pretty sure Lambo and Aston Martin drivers are not typically Sprint customers. :hah:

 

Robert

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I'm pretty sure Lambo and Aston Martin drivers are not typically Sprint customers. :hah:Robert

 

hahaha true that

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Strange this morning I woke up disable wifi and noticed the 4G signal with one bar. I live within the North Richland Hills area was was happy to see one bar. The 4G kept going away and coming back, but I did notice my 3G speeds better then ever. I wonder if they are getting ready to open up the networks

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Strange this morning I woke up disable wifi and noticed the 4G signal with one bar. I live within the North Richland Hills area was was happy to see one bar. The 4G kept going away and coming back, but I did notice my 3G speeds better then ever. I wonder if they are getting ready to open up the networks

I was seeing similar 4G coverage near lake Lewisville between The Colony and Little Elm. But unfortunately speeds were erratic along with the coverage popping in and out so i couldn't get any worthwhile screencaps. I was seeing between 2-4 bars (out of 6) on Evo LTE. This gives me hope that there will be service near my area soon after launch. Can't wait for Monday.

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Robert I know in the past I've asked about Alvarado, Tx 76009-4003 in regards to LTE and I do remember you letting me know it would be covered under the DFW sector.

 

However as I see the maps 76009 does not even come close to any towers with LTE expansion from Alvarado to Venus to Midlothian up until right before it hits Cedar Hill & Cleburne TX east and west.

 

Please explain to me so that I can be assured that we won't be left behind in regards to LTE.

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Robert I know in the past I've asked about Alvarado, Tx 76009-4003 in regards to LTE and I do remember you letting me know it would be covered under the DFW sector.However as I see the maps 76009 does not even come close to any towers with LTE expansion from Alvarado to Venus to Midlothian up until right before it hits Cedar Hill & Cleburne TX east and west. Please explain to me so that I can be assured that we won't be left behind in regards to LTE.

 

The maps above showed the sites complete at the time of the article (yellow), and the sites that were scheduled to be live at launch (green). So these maps do not show coverage in the future.

 

Alvarado will indeed get 4G LTE coverage. Sites are still being deployed, even though the launch has occurred. The market will not be 100% complete until late Fall or early Winter. 4G LTE coverage will be over all the 3G coverage areas by the time the market is complete.

 

Robert

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The maps above showed the sites complete at the time of the article (yellow), and the sites that were scheduled to be live at launch (green). So these maps do not show coverage in the future.Alvarado will indeed get 4G LTE coverage. Sites are still being deployed, even though the launch has occurred. The market will not be 100% complete until late Fall or early Winter. 4G LTE coverage will be over all the 3G coverage areas by the time the market is complete.Robert

 

 

That clarifies it. Thanks very much Robert, I feel a piece of mind just knowing that.

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Is there any way to get an update on the current LTE status in Dallas? It's supposedly been live for nearly a month now, and aside from a couple 4G blips, I've seen nothing on my Galaxy Nexus anywhere in the metroplex. I live in 75254, work in 75074, and have seen nothing from either of those places to DFW airport. I know it's a work in progress -- but where can we get info on that progress?

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Is there any way to get an update on the current LTE status in Dallas? It's supposedly been live for nearly a month now, and aside from a couple 4G blips, I've seen nothing on my Galaxy Nexus anywhere in the metroplex. I live in 75254, work in 75074, and have seen nothing from either of those places to DFW airport. I know it's a work in progress -- but where can we get info on that progress?

 

S4GRU has interactive maps in our Sponsor section of our website that show all the completed sites in the DFW Metroplex (and all markets for that matter). It gets updated weekly. For more information about how to become a S4GRU Sponsor, follow this link.

 

Also, I have provided this map for you showing the completed sites in the area:

 

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My work building is located at the 635/DNT intersection, and when I am in my office on the 15th floor, my SGIII intermittently receives a 4G signal, although it is very weak. The phone cycles from 4G to 3G and sometimes even to roaming, and when it is on 4G, data is very slow ... almost always less than 1Mbps. No 4G signal at all, though, when I'm in the lobby of my building. FWIW.

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