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    [PSA] Sprint announces GEN3 (4th iteration) Magic Box

    By lilotimz

    Tim Yu
    Sprint 4G Rollout Updates
    Wednesday, September 12, 2018 - 12:45 PM PDT [Edit] It has come to the attention of S4GRU that the Magic Box also supports CDMA Voice Today, Sprint announced the newest Magic Box™ to the world. This Magic Box was first spotted in early summer and S4GRU did a quick write up on it here. Today's announcement formally revealed what new technologies this 3rd Generation public release will give to us. The highlights: This is some huge stuff here especially for technology nerds! Previous Magic Box's only utilized LTE UE Relay for backhaul up to 2 carrier aggregation at 2x2 MIMO at 64 QAM modulation. With 3 CA, 256 QAM, and 4x4 MIMO, this new Magic Box has the same capability as a Gigabit Class device on the Sprint™ network! In addition the notes about Wi-FI connection working for backhaul are huge. Sprint Band 25 or Band 41 may not reach indoors or even in some neighborhoods due to macro coverage patterns even though a Magic Box is available to use in a region. By having the option to use locally supplied internet via WiFi as backhaul, this allows Magic Boxes to enter locations where LTE UE Relay does not work. In addition, the ethernet port tidbit may also be a hint that using ethernet backhaul could also be an option. If so, this Magic Box would potentially support 3 choices of backhaul all in one unit; LTE UE Relay, WiFi, and Ethernet! Wow!  With the coming arrival of VoLTE opt in in the near future, LTE coverage indoors is a huge concern. The now expanded reach of this new Magic Box into places previously unreachable is a huge step forward. Exciting! Sprint and Airspan sure loves Magic!
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The Wall
 

East Michigan Network Vision/LTE Deployment schedule update

by Robert Herron Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Monday, July 9, 2012 - 12:01 PM MDT   The next market in our Network Vision/LTE deployment schedule update series is...East Michigan. The East Michigan market has yet to be announced by Sprint, and may not be announced until as late as this Fall.   The Sprint East Michigan market encompasses the Eastern Half of the Michigan Lower Peninsula. This includes the cities of Detroit, Warren, Sterling Heights, Ann Arbor, Flint, Dearborn, Livonia, Canton, Troy, Southfield, Rochester Hills, St. Clair Shores, Pontiac, Tri-Cities (Saginaw, Midland and Bay City), Jackson, Port Huron and Alpena. Sprint's Network Vision OEM Samsung is scheduled to begin mobilizing their subcontractors around the market in September. The first completed Network Vision sites are scheduled to start coming online in October.   Anticipated Sites Complete at Market Launch. According to the Network Vision schedules that S4GRU has reviewed, if Sprint launched the market in April, these are the anticipated sites that would likely have LTE complete at that time. This would provide fairly good LTE coverage over many parts of the market.   Schedule details and the bottom line   Sprint has not yet selected a date to formally "launch" LTE service in East Michigan. It is difficult to try to pick a date now this far out, but we have attempted to do that. In looking at the schedule as of today, it would indicate a April market launch (going on a 40% - 50% completion for launch). But there is no way to know if Samsung and their subcontractors will actually hit their schedule dates before deployment in this market begins. We will be able to gauge better after a few months of production is achieved.   Samsung needs to hit a production rate of approximately 60 sites per month to stay on schedule. This is a big chunk to complete monthly, but is doable with the appropriate amount of resources allocated.   S4GRU has examined the schedule in great detail in this market and sees that most of the sites will be complete by September 2013. However, there may be a few sporadic sites that will linger past the completion. Photo of Detroit 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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Orange County Network Vision/LTE Deployment schedule update

by Robert Herron Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Monday, July 9, 2012 - 6:00 AM MDT   The next market in our Network Vision/LTE deployment schedule update series is...Orange County, California. The Orange County market has yet to be announced by Sprint, and may not be announced until as late as this Fall.   The Sprint Orange County market includes Anaheim, Santa Ana, Irvine, Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Orange, Fullerton, Laguna Niguel and Mission Viejo. Sprint's Network Vision OEM Alcatel/Lucent is scheduled to begin mobilizing their subcontractors around the market in September. The first completed Network Vision sites are scheduled to start coming online in October.   Anticipated Sites Complete at Market Launch. According to the Network Vision schedules that S4GRU has reviewed, if Sprint launched the market in April, these are the anticipated sites that would likely have LTE complete at that time. This would provide fairly good LTE coverage over many parts of the market.   Schedule details and the bottom line   Sprint has not selected a date to formally "launch" LTE service in Orange County, yet. It is difficult to try to pick a date now this far out, but we will try. In looking at the schedule as of today, it would indicate a April - May market launch (going on a 40% - 50% completion for launch). But there is no way to know if AlcaLu and their subcontractors will actually hit their schedule dates this early in the deployment for this market. We will be able to gauge better after a few months of production.   Alcatel/Lucent needs to hit a production rate of only 35 sites per month to stay on schedule. This is a pretty low amount compared to many markets. There is no reason why they should not be able to complete the market on time, and there is a good chance that they may even be able to get ahead of schedule.   S4GRU has examined the schedule in great detail in this market and sees that most of the sites will be complete by August 2013. However, there may be a few sporadic sites that will linger past the completion. Photo of Newport Center 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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West Michigan Network Vision/LTE Deployment schedule update

by Robert Herron Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Sunday, July 8, 2012 - 2:30 PM MDT   The next market in our Network Vision/LTE deployment schedule update series is...West Michigan. The West Michigan market has yet to be announced by Sprint, and may not be announced until as late as this Fall.   The Sprint West Michigan market encompasses the Western and Central Portions of the Michigan Lower Peninsula, as well as a few isolated Upper Peninsula sites around St. Ignace, Mackinac Island and Sault Ste. Marie. This includes the cities of Grand Rapids, Lansing, Kalamazoo, Wyoming, Battle Creek, Portage, Muskegon, Holland, Traverse City, Mount Pleasant, Benton Harbor, St. Joseph and Niles. Sprint's Network Vision OEM Samsung is scheduled to begin mobilizing their subcontractors around the market in September. The first completed Network Vision sites are scheduled to start coming online in October.   Anticipated Sites Complete at Market Launch. According to the Network Vision schedules that S4GRU has reviewed, if Sprint launched the market in March, these are the anticipated sites that would likely have LTE complete at that time. This would provide fairly good LTE coverage over many parts of the market. There likely will be more in the Grand Rapids Metro area than what is shown here.   Schedule details and the bottom line   Sprint has not yet selected a date to formally "launch" LTE service in West Michigan. It is difficult to try to pick a date now this far out, but we have attempted to do that. In looking at the schedule as of today, it would indicate a March market launch (going on a 40% - 50% completion for launch). But there is no way to know if Samsung and their subcontractors will actually hit their schedule dates before deployment in this market begins. We will be able to gauge better after a few months of production is achieved.   Samsung needs to hit a production rate of approximately 45 sites per month to stay on schedule. This market shouldn't have problems staying on time as this is a lower production rate than many markets.   S4GRU has examined the schedule in great detail in this market and sees that most of the sites will be complete by August 2013. However, there may be a few sporadic sites that will linger past the completion. Photo of Downtown Lansing 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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San Jose/South Bay Network Vision/LTE Deployment schedule update

by Robert Herron Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Sunday, July 8, 2012 - 12:09 PM MDT   The next market in our Network Vision/LTE deployment schedule update series is...South Bay. The South Bay market has yet to be announced by Sprint, and may not be announced until as late as this Fall.   The Sprint South Bay market encompasses Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Benito and Monterey counties. This includes the cities of San Jose, Santa Clara, Cupertino, Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Campbell, Los Altos, Los Gatos, Milpitas, Santa Cruz, Watsonville, Morgan Hill, Hollister, Gilroy, Salinas, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Carmel and Soledad. Sprint's Network Vision OEM Samsung is scheduled to begin mobilizing their subcontractors around the market in October. The first completed Network Vision sites are scheduled to start coming online in November.   Anticipated Sites Complete at Market Launch. According to the Network Vision schedules that S4GRU has reviewed, if Sprint launched the market in February, these are the anticipated sites that would likely have LTE complete at that time. This would provide fairly good LTE coverage over many parts of the market.   Schedule details and the bottom line   Sprint has not selected a date to formally "launch" LTE service in the South Bay-San Jose area, yet. It is difficult to try to pick a date now this far out, but we will attempt to do just that. In looking at the schedule as of today, it would indicate a February-March market launch (going on a 40% - 50% completion for launch). But there is no way to know if Samsung and their subcontractors will actually hit their schedule dates before deployment in this market begins. We will be able to gauge better after a few months of production is achieved.   Samsung needs to hit a production rate of approximately 35 sites per month to stay on schedule. This market shouldn't have problems staying on time as this is a lower production rate than many other markets.   S4GRU has examined the schedule in great detail in this market and sees that most of the sites will be complete by August 2013. However, there may be a few sporadic sites that will linger past the completion. Photo of Downtown San Jose 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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Puerto Rico/Virgin Islands Network Vision/LTE Deployment schedule update

by Robert Herron Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Friday, July 6, 2012 - 12:55 PM MDT   The next market in our Network Vision/LTE deployment schedule update series is way down yonder...Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The PR/VI market has yet to be announced by Sprint. Network Vision work is under way, with Samsung and their subcontractors actively working around the market. The Sprint PR/VI market encompasses all of Puerto Rico (including Culebra and Vieques) as well as the U.S. Virgin Islands (including St. Thomas, St. Croix and St. John).   Samsung has this market deployment configured in a completely different manner than any other we have reported. Samsung did show up and begin work at the end of April. Their subcontractors are running around the islands installing base station equipment, new cable runs, remote radio units and new Network Vision antenna panels. We have had S4GRU members in Puerto Rico submit some pictures of this work being completed at sites near them. This work appears to be on schedule from our previous report for the market.   Network Vision site in Yauco, Puerto Rico. S4GRU Member Edil Montalvo provided this shot of a site in Yauco that received NV upgrades in early May. This site is slated to get Microwave backhaul which will not arrive until this Fall.   Sprint and Samsung are currently working on the 4G Core in Bayamon that will handle all the LTE data and eHRPD data that will come from completed Network Vision sites. The Bayamon 4G Core will not be ready until this Fall. Sprint's backhaul vendors are actively working to install high-speed backhaul that will connect these NV sites to the completed core.   Once the 4G core is complete and a good chunk of the backhaul is in place, Samsung will get back out to completed Network Vision sites and get the 3G upgrades and LTE hooked up to the new backhaul. Then the eHRPD and LTE networks can be running. The deployment dates in this article will discuss the dates that LTE sites are scheduled to start going live this Winter after everything is in place.   Anticipated Sites Complete at Market Launch. According to the Network Vision schedules that S4GRU has reviewed, if Sprint launched the market in February, these are the anticipated sites that would likely have LTE complete at that time. This would provide fairly good LTE coverage over many parts of the market.   Schedule details and the bottom line   We currently do not have a date that Sprint will formally "launch" LTE service in the PR/VI market. It is difficult to try to pick a date now this far out, but we will attempt to. In looking at the schedule as of today, it would indicate a February-March LTE launch (going on a 40% - 50% completion for launch). We will have a better idea how deployment is going after the Bayamon core and backhaul work are completed and LTE starts to go live.   S4GRU has examined the schedule in great detail in this market and sees that most of the sites will be complete by May 2013. However, there may be a few sporadic sites that will linger past the completion. There is a chance that if the Bayamon core and backhaul can get completed ahead of schedule that these LTE live dates can be improved upon.   Photo of Christiansted, St. Croix 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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Southern Connecticut Network Vision/LTE Deployment schedule update

by Robert Herron Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Thursday, July 5, 2012 - 4:49 PM MDT   The next market in our Network Vision/LTE deployment schedule update series is...Southern Connecticut. The Southern Connecticut market has yet to be announced by Sprint, and may not be announced until as late as this Fall.   The Sprint Southern Connecticut market encompasses Fairfield, New Haven and Litchfield counties. This includes the cities of Bridgeport, New Haven, Stamford, Norwalk, Greenwich, Danbury, Hamden, Trumbull, Waterbury, Meriden and Torrington. Sprint's Network Vision OEM Alcatel/Lucent is scheduled to begin mobilizing their subcontractors around the market in September. The first completed Network Vision sites are scheduled to start coming online in October.   Anticipated Sites Complete at Market Launch. According to the Network Vision schedules that S4GRU has reviewed, if Sprint launched the market in January, these are the anticipated sites that would likely have LTE complete at that time. This would provide fairly good LTE coverage over many parts of the market.   Schedule details and the bottom line   Sprint has not selected a date to formally "launch" LTE service in Southern Connecticut, yet. It is difficult to try to pick a date now this far out, but we will try. In looking at the schedule as of today, it would indicate a January - February market launch (going on a 40% - 50% completion for launch). But there is no way to know if AlcaLu and their subcontractors will actually hit their schedule dates this early in the deployment for this market. We will be able to gauge better after a few months of production.   Alcatel/Lucent needs to hit a production rate of only 25 sites per month to stay on schedule. This is a really low amount compared to most other markets. There is no reason why they should not be able to complete the market on time, and there is a good chance that they may even be able to get ahead of scheule.   S4GRU has examined the schedule in great detail in this market and sees that most of the sites will be complete by July 2013. However, there may be a few sporadic sites that will linger past the completion. Photo of Stamford 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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Northern Jersey Network Vision/LTE Deployment schedule update

by Robert Herron Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Thursday, July 5, 2012 - 12:26 PM MDT   The next market in our Network Vision/LTE deployment schedule update series is...Northern Jersey. The Northern Jersey market has yet to be announced by Sprint, and may not be announced until as late as this Fall.   The Sprint Northern Jersey market encompasses Hudson, Essex, Bergen, Union, Passaic, Morris, Warren and Sussex counties. This includes such communities as Newark, Jersey City, Union City, Bayonne, Elizabeth, Clifton, Passaic, Paterson, Hackensack, Teterboro, Paramus and distant Phillipsburg over on the Pennsylvania border. Sprint's Network Vision OEM Alcatel/Lucent is scheduled to begin mobilizing their subcontractors around the market in October. The first completed Network Vision sites are scheduled to start coming online in November.   Anticipated Sites Complete at Market Launch. According to the Network Vision schedules that S4GRU has reviewed, if Sprint launched the market in January, these are the anticipated sites that would likely have LTE complete at that time. This would provide fairly good LTE coverage over many parts of the market.   Schedule details and the bottom line   Sprint has not selected a date to formally "launch" LTE service in Northern Jersey, yet. It is difficult to try to pick a date now this far out, but we will attempt to do just that. In looking at the schedule as of today, it would indicate a January market launch (going on a 40% - 50% completion for launch). But there is no way to know if AlcaLu and their subcontractors will actually hit their schedule dates this early in the deployment for this market. We will be able to gauge better after a few months of production.   Alcatel/Lucent needs to hit a production rate of approximately 50 sites per month to stay on schedule. This market shouldn't have problems staying on time as 50 sites per month is a steady rate that can be achieved with proper planning.   S4GRU has examined the schedule in great detail in this market and sees that most of the sites will be complete by August 2013. However, there may be a few sporadic sites that will linger past the completion. Photo of the Statue of Liberty and the Jersey City 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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Fire Photon torpedoes! Motorola Photon Q hits the FCC OET

by Andrew J. Shepherd
Sprint 4G Rollout Updates
Tuesday, July 3, 2012 - 2:54 PM MDT   S4GRU continues with the third in a series of short articles on the FCC OET (Office of Engineering and Technology) authorization filings for "tentpole" devices headed to Sprint's upcoming Network Vision enhanced LTE overlay. Over the past few months, we have brought you the scoop on the FCC authorizations for the HTC EVO 4G LTE and the Samsung Galaxy S3. Today, the Motorola model number XT897 hits the FCC OET database with FCC ID IHDT56NL2, and we expect this mystery handset ultimately to be the Photon Q. Without further ado, here is the RF rundown:
  CDMA1X + EV-DO band classes 0, 1, 10 (i.e. CDMA1X + EV-DO 850/1900/800) LTE band 25 (i.e. LTE 1900; PCS A-G blocks) LTE 5 MHz and 10 MHz carrier bandwidths world phone international roaming capability 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi; max MCS index 7 (i.e. 20 MHz channel, 400 ns guard interval, single spatial channel) SVDO and SVLTE support, including SVDO or SVLTE and simultaneous Wi-Fi tether Maximum RF ERP/EIRP: 22.45 dBm (CDMA1X 850), 19.89 dBm (EV-DO 850), 27.12 dBm (CDMA1X 1900), 24.03 dBm (EV-DO 1900), 21.72 dBm (CDMA1X 800), 19.33 dBm (EV-DO 800), 25.22 dBm (LTE 1900) NFC capability Antenna locations: CDMA1X bottom, EV-DO/LTE top, Wi-Fi/Bluetooth bottom   The Photon Q's FCC filing makes mention of world phone international roaming capability, albeit latent inside the handset. Presumably, it will include at least GSM 900/1800 and W-CDMA 900/2100+1900 (a la the international roaming capabilities announced to be unlocked in several VZW handsets). But, before anyone asks, do not expect any LTE international roaming capability. RF uplink output looks to be healthy. It is generally a bit higher than what we have seen recently from the EVO LTE and Galaxy S3. However, unlike the EVO LTE and Galaxy S3, the Photon Q lacks 802.11a/n Wi-Fi 5 GHz band capability. The filing indicates that the hardware is present, but 5 GHz operation is locked out. So, the Photon Q will be stuck in the increasingly overcrowded 2.4 GHz band. At this point, the LTE UE category remains unknown. Recent Motorola RAZR LTE handsets on VZW have used Moto's own Wrigley LTE baseband chipset, which has limited those devices to LTE UE category 2. We hope that the Photon Q will utilize the Qualcomm MSM8960 as a single chipset modem, as that should enable UE category 3. Perhaps the most interesting and potentially controversial aspect of the Photon Q's FCC authorization is the inclusion of two references to the Motorola Admiral, a front facing QWERTY handset currently available on Sprint. One reference cites the Admiral as a "similar transmitter;" the other reference flat out calls the Photon Q the Admiral. Thus, while some sites have leaked photos of what purports to be the Photon Q in the expected QWERTY slider design, we leave open the possibility, however modest, that the Photon Q may arrive as an LTE refreshed Admiral clone with a front facing QWERTY keyboard.     Sources: FCC
WiWavelength

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San Francisco Bay Area Network Vision/LTE Deployment schedule update

by Robert Herron Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Tuesday, July 3, 2012 - 12:02 PM MDT   The next market in our Network Vision/LTE deployment schedule update series is the City by the Bay...San Francisco. The SF Bay market has yet to be announced by Sprint, but is the only First Round market to not yet start deployment.   The Sprint SF Bay market encompasses all of the Northern San Francisco Bay Area, including the counties of San Francisco, San Mateo, Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Sonoma, Napa, Lake and Solano. This includes the cities of San Francisco, Oakland, Fremont, Concord, Walnut Creek, Pleasanton, Livermore, San Ramon, Antioch, Brentwood, Hayward, Berkeley, Vallejo, Fairfield, Vacaville, Richmond, Napa, San Rafael, Novato, Santa Rosa, Sonoma, San Mateo, Daly City and Palo Alto.   Samsung is scheduled to finally start mobilizing with their subcontractors in this market next month and get things moving. The first completed Network Vision sites are will likely start coming online in September. There was a lot of anticipation that this market would start around the times of the other First Round markets. However, S4GRU discovered there were issues early in this market as the start dates for sites pushed out to summer pretty early in Network Vision. It just plain takes longer to get started in a market like Northern California with all of the bureaucratic red tape, planning and zoning requirements and approvals. And the issues Samsung has encountered in Chicago are likely to have played role in the push back too.   SF Bay Market Launch   It was Sprint's original plan to launch markets when they reached 50% of sites converted to Network Vision. However, it has now been determined that Sprint will move up launches sooner than 50% completion in several markets. This is likely to maintain a Mid 2012 launch in markets that have already been announced. However, in an unannounced market like San Francisco, we don't know if they will resume pushing back market launches to 50%, or if they will now settle on a 40% completion to be the new normal for market launches.   If Sprint waits for 50% completion to launch this market, it would make the launch approximately February (should the OEM stay on schedule). If they plan on a 40% market completion for launch, that would be January. You may think that 40% - 50% site completion is not enough to launch LTE service, but it would provide pretty good coverage. Even Verizon doesn't launch on all sites in a market initially. Usually less than 50%, then filling in with more and more sites every few months.   Anticipated Sites Complete at Market Launch. According to the Network Vision schedules that S4GRU has reviewed, if Sprint launched the market in January, these are the anticipated sites that would likely have LTE complete at that time. This would provide fairly good LTE coverage over many parts of the market.   Schedule details and the bottom line   We currently do not have a date that Sprint will formally "launch" LTE service in the Bay Area. It is difficult to try to pick a date now this far out, but we will take a stab at it. In looking at the schedule as of today, it would indicate a January market launch (going on a 40% - 50% completion for launch). But there is no way to know if Samsung and their subcontractors will actually hit their schedule dates this early in the deployment for this market. We will be able to gauge better after a few months of production.   Samsung will need to hit a production rate of 75 sites per month to stay on schedule. If properly prepared and equipped and if backhaul is ready timely, this market shouldn't have any problems staying on time to this schedule. But this is very dependent on whether the market will indeed start in August.   S4GRU has examined the schedule in great detail in this market and sees that most of the sites will be complete by July 2013. However, there may be a few sporadic sites that will linger past the completion.   Photo of the Bay Bridge 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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New Orleans Network Vision/LTE Deployment schedule update

by Robert Herron Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Tuesday, July 3, 2012 - 6:00 AM MDT   The next market in our Network Vision/LTE deployment schedule update series is, the Big Easy, the Crescent City...New Orleans. The New Orleans market has yet to be announced by Sprint, but is expected to be announced in the near future. Perhaps around the time of the first market launches.   The Sprint New Orleans market encompasses all of the Sprint native coverage in the Southeastern Louisiana area. This includes New Orleans and its suburbs, up to Baton Rouge, around the north side of Lake Pontchartrain in Hammond, Covington and Slidell and then over toward Houma and Morgan City. Sprint's Network Vision OEM Ericsson is scheduled to begin mobilizing with its subcontractors before the end of August. Completed Network Vision sites should start coming online in Septemeber.   New Orleans Market Launch   It was Sprint's original plan to launch markets when they reached 50% of sites converted to Network Vision. However, it has now been determined that Sprint will move up launches sooner than 50% completion in several markets. This is likely to maintain a Mid 2012 launch in markets that have already been announced. However, in an unannounced market like New Orleans, we don't know if they will resume pushing back market launches to 50%, or if they will now settle on a 40% completion to be the new normal for market launches.   It doesn't much matter in this market if Sprint launches at 40% or 50% completion. Ericsson is scheduled to hit both the 40% and 50% milestones in the month of January (should they stay on schedule). It may seem that 40% - 50% site completion is not enough to launch LTE service, but it would provide pretty good coverage. Even Verizon doesn't launch on all sites in a market initially. Usually less than 50%, then filling in with more and more sites every few months.   Anticipated Sites Complete at Market Launch. According to the Network Vision schedules that S4GRU has reviewed, if Sprint launched the market in January, these are the anticipated sites that would likely have LTE complete at that time. This would provide fairly good LTE coverage over many parts of the market.   Schedule details and the bottom line   We currently do not have a date that Sprint will formally "launch" LTE service around NOLA. It is difficult to try to pick a date now this far out, but we will take a stab at it. In looking at the schedule as of today, it would indicate a January market launch (going on a 40% - 50% completion for launch). But there is no way to know if Ericsson and their subcontractors will actually hit their schedule dates this early in the deployment for this market. We will be able to gauge better after a few months of production.   Ericsson will only need to hit a production rate of 40 sites per month to stay on schedule. This appears to us to be an achievable rate. If properly prepared and equipped and if backhaul is ready timely, this market shouldn't have problems staying on time. But this is easy to say before they get started.   S4GRU has examined the schedule in great detail in this market and sees that most of the sites will be complete by May 2013. However, there may be a few sporadic sites that will linger past the completion.   Photo of New Orleans 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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San Diego Network Vision/LTE Deployment schedule update

by Robert Herron Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Monday, July 2, 2012 - 12:30 PM MDT   The next market in our Network Vision/LTE deployment schedule update series is ...San Diego. The San Diego market has yet to be announced by Sprint, but is expected to be announced in the near future. Perhaps around the time of the first market launches.   The Sprint San Diego market encompasses San Diego County and parts of Imperial County, including the San Diego Metro Area, Encinitas, Carlsbad, Oceanside, Vista, San Marcos, Escondido and Calexico and El Centro to the East. Sprint's Network Vision OEM Alcatel/Lucent is scheduled to begin mobilizing their subcontractors around the market this month. The first completed Network Vision sites are scheduled to start coming online in August.   San Diego Market Launch   It was Sprint's original plan to launch markets when they reached 50% of sites converted to Network Vision. However, it has now been determined that Sprint will move up launches sooner than 50% completion in several markets. This is likely to maintain a Mid 2012 launch in markets that have already been announced. However, in an unannounced market like San Diego, we don't know if they will resume pushing back market launches to 50%, or if they will now settle on a 40% completion to be the new normal for market launches.   If Sprint waits for 50% completion to launch this market, it would make the launch approximately February/March (should the OEM stay on schedule). If they plan on a 40% market completion for launch, that would be January. You may think that 40% - 50% site completion is not enough to launch LTE service, but it would provide pretty good coverage. Even Verizon doesn't launch on all sites in a market initially. Usually less than 50%, then filling in with more and more sites every few months.   Anticipated Sites Complete at Market Launch. According to the Network Vision schedules that S4GRU has reviewed, if Sprint launched the market in January, these are the anticipated sites that would likely have LTE complete at that time. This would provide fairly good LTE coverage over many parts of the market.   Schedule details and the bottom line   Sprint has not selected a date to formally "launch" LTE service in San Diego, yet. It is difficult to try to pick a date now this far out, but we will take a stab at it. In looking at the schedule as of today, it would indicate a January market launch (going on a 40% - 50% completion for launch). But there is no way to know if AlcaLu and their subcontractors will actually hit their schedule dates this early in the deployment for this market. We will be able to gauge better after a few months of production.   Alcatel/Lucent needs to hit a production rate of approximately 70 sites per month to stay on schedule. This market shouldn't have problems staying on time as 70 sites per month is a steady rate that can be achieved with proper planning.   S4GRU has examined the schedule in great detail in this market and sees that most of the sites will be complete by May 2013. However, there may be a few sporadic sites that will linger past the completion. Photo of the Downtown San Diego 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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Raleigh/Durham Network Vision/LTE Deployment schedule update

by Robert Herron Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Monday, July 2, 2012 - 6:00 AM MDT   The next market in our Network Vision/LTE deployment schedule update series is ...Raleigh/Durham. The Raleigh/Durham market has yet to be announced by Sprint, but is expected to be announced in the near future. Perhaps around the time of the first market launches.   The Sprint RDU market encompasses most of Eastern North Carolina, except the coastal areas. This includes the Research Triangle/Raleigh-Durham metro area, Fayetteville/Fort Bragg, Southern Pines/Pinehurst, Rocky Mount, Wilson, Greenville, Kinston and Goldsboro. Sprint's Network Vision OEM Alcatel/Lucent is scheduled to begin mobilizing their subcontractors around the market this month. The first completed Network Vision sites are scheduled to start coming online in August.   Raleigh/Durham Market Launch   It was Sprint's original plan to launch markets when they reached 50% of sites converted to Network Vision. However, it has now been determined that Sprint will move up launches sooner than 50% completion in several markets. This is likely to maintain a Mid 2012 launch in markets that have already been announced. However, in an unannounced market like Raleigh, we don't know if they will resume pushing back market launches to 50%, or if they will now settle on a 40% completion to be the new normal for market launches.   If Sprint waits for 50% completion to launch this market, it would make the launch approximately January (should the OEM stay on schedule). If they plan on a 40% market completion for launch, that would be December. You may think that 40% - 50% site completion is not enough to launch LTE service, but it would provide pretty good coverage. Even Verizon doesn't launch on all sites in a market initially. Usually less than 50%, then filling in with more and more sites every few months.   Anticipated Sites Complete at Market Launch. According to the Network Vision schedules that S4GRU has reviewed, if Sprint launched the market in December, these are the anticipated sites that would likely have LTE complete at that time. This would provide fairly good LTE coverage over many parts of the market.   Schedule details and the bottom line   Sprint has not selected a date to formally "launch" LTE service in Raleigh/Durham, yet. It is difficult to try to pick a date now this far out, but we will take a stab at it. In looking at the schedule as of today, it would indicate a December or January market launch (going on a 40% - 50% completion for launch). But there is no way to know if AlcaLu and their subcontractors will actually hit their schedule dates this early in the deployment for this market. We will be able to gauge better after a few months of production.   Alcatel/Lucent needs to hit a production rate of only 35 sites per month to stay on schedule. This is a pretty low rate. This market shouldn't have problems staying on time, or maybe even getting ahead of schedule.   S4GRU has examined the schedule in great detail in this market and sees that most of the sites will be complete by August 2013. However, there may be a few sporadic sites that will linger past the completion. Photo of the Downtown Raleigh 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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Philadelphia Network Vision/LTE Deployment schedule update

by Robert Herron Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Sunday, July 1, 2012 - 12:56 PM MDT   The next market in our Network Vision/LTE deployment schedule update series is the City of Brotherly Love...Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Metro market has yet to be announced by Sprint, but is expected to be announced in the near future. Perhaps around the time of the first market launches.   The Sprint Philly market encompasses all of Southeastern Pennsylvania. Including the Philly Metro area, up toward the Lehigh Valley (Allentown/Bethlehem/Easton) and over toward Reading and Pottstown. In does not include the Jersey suburbs, which are in the Southern Jersey market. Sprint's Network Vision OEM Alcatel/Lucent is scheduled to be mobilizing their subcontractors around the market now. Completed Network Vision sites are scheduled to start coming online this month.   Philadelphia Metro Market Launch   It was Sprint's original plan to launch markets when they reached 50% of sites converted to Network Vision. However, it has now been determined that Sprint will move up launches sooner than 50% completion in several markets. This is likely to maintain a Mid 2012 launch in markets that have already been announced. However, in an unannounced market like Philly, we don't know if they will resume pushing back market launches to 50%, or if they will now settle on a 40% completion to be the new normal for market launches.   If Sprint waits for 50% completion to launch this market, it would make the launch approximately January (should the OEM stay on schedule). If they plan on a 40% market completion for launch, that would be December. You may think that 40% - 50% site completion is not enough to launch LTE service, but it would provide pretty good coverage. Even Verizon doesn't launch on all sites in a market initially. Usually less than 50%, then filling in with more and more sites every few months.   Anticipated Sites Complete at Market Launch. According to the Network Vision schedules that S4GRU has reviewed, if Sprint launched the market in December, these are the anticipated sites that would likely have LTE complete at that time. This would provide fairly good LTE coverage over many parts of the market.   Schedule details and the bottom line   We currently do not have a date that Sprint will formally "launch" LTE service in Philadelphia. It is difficult to try to pick a date now this far out, but we will take a stab at it. In looking at the schedule as of today, it would indicate a December or January market launch (going on a 40% - 50% completion for launch). But there is no way to know if AlcaLu and their subcontractors will actually hit their schedule dates this early in the deployment for this market. We will be able to gauge better after a few months of production.   Alcatel/Lucent will need to hit a production rate of 50 sites per month to stay on schedule. This is an achievable rate in our opinion. If properly prepared and equipped and if backhaul is ready timely, this market shouldn't have problems staying on time.   S4GRU has examined the schedule in great detail in this market and sees that most of the sites will be complete by July 2013. However, there may be a few sporadic sites that will linger past the completion. Photo of the Philadelphia 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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Indianapolis Network Vision/LTE Deployment schedule update

by Robert Herron
Sprint 4G Rollout Updates
Saturday, June 30, 2012 - 2:02 PM MDT   The next market in our Network Vision/LTE deployment schedule update series is The Crossroads of America...Indianapolis. The Indy market has yet to be announced by Sprint, but is expected to be announced in the near future. Perhaps around the time of the first market launches. The Sprint Indianapolis market encompasses all of Central Indiana, including the Indianapolis Metropolitan Area, Bloomington, Lafayette, Anderson, Muncie, Kokomo and Columbus. Sprint's Network Vision OEM Samsung is scheduled to begin mobilizing with its subcontractors in August. Completed Network Vision sites are scheduled to start coming online in September.   Indianapolis Market Launch It was Sprint's original plan to launch markets when they reached 50% of sites converted to Network Vision. However, it has now been determined that Sprint will move up launches sooner than 50% completion in several markets. This is likely to maintain a Mid 2012 launch in markets that have already been announced. However, in an unannounced market like Indy, we don't know if they will resume pushing back market launches to 50%, or if they will now settle on a 40% completion to be the new normal for market launches. It doesn't much matter in this market if Sprint launches at 40% or 50% completion. Samsung is scheduled to hit both the 40% and 50% milestones in the month of December (should they stay on schedule). It may seem that 40% - 50% site completion is not enough to launch LTE service, but it would provide pretty good coverage. Even Verizon doesn't launch on all sites in a market initially. Usually less than 50%, then filling in with more and more sites every few months.   Anticipated Sites Complete at Market Launch. According to the Network Vision schedules that S4GRU has reviewed, if Sprint launched the market in December, these are the anticipated sites that would likely have LTE complete at that time. This would provide fairly good LTE coverage over many parts of the market.   Schedule details and the bottom line We currently do not have a date that Sprint will formally "launch" LTE service in Indy. It is difficult to try to pick a date now this far out, but we will take a stab at it. In looking at the schedule as of today, it would indicate a December market launch (going on a 40% - 50% completion for launch). But there is no way to know if Samsung and their subcontractors will actually hit their schedule dates this early in the deployment for this market. We will be able to gauge better after a few months of production. Samsung will need to hit a production rate of 35 sites per month to stay on schedule. This is an easy to achieve rate in our opinion. If properly prepared and equipped and if backhaul is ready timely, this market shouldn't have any problems staying on time. They may even be able to get ahead of schedule here. S4GRU has examined the schedule in great detail in this market and sees that most of the sites will be complete by May 2013. However, there may be a few sporadic sites that will linger past the completion. Photo of the Indianapolis 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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Tampa Network Vision/LTE Deployment schedule update

by Robert Herron Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Friday, June 29, 2012 - 12:28 PM MDT   The next market in our Network Vision/LTE deployment schedule update series is ...Tampa. The Tampa Bay area has yet to be announced by Sprint, but is expected to be announced in the near future. Perhaps around the time of the first market launches.   The Sprint Tampa market encompasses all of the Sprint native coverage in the Tampa Bay area, including Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Hernando counties. This includes Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Pinellas Park, Seminole, Largo, Dunedin, Brandon, Plant City, Riverview, Palm Harbor, New Port Richey, Tarpon Springs, Zephyrhills, Spring Hill and Brooksville. Sprint's Network Vision OEM Ericsson is scheduled to begin mobilizing with its subcontractors in August. Completed Network Vision sites should start coming online around the first of Septemeber.   Tampa Market Launch   It was Sprint's original plan to launch markets when they reached 50% of sites converted to Network Vision. However, it has now been determined that Sprint will move up launches sooner than 50% completion in several markets. This is likely to maintain a Mid 2012 launch in markets that have already been announced. However, in an unannounced market like Tampa, we don't know if they will resume pushing back market launches to 50%, or if they will now settle on a 40% completion to be the new normal for market launches.   It doesn't much matter in this market if Sprint launches at 40% or 50% completion. Ericsson is scheduled to hit both the 40% and 50% milestones in the month of December (should they stay on schedule). It may seem that 40% - 50% site completion is not enough to launch LTE service, but it would provide pretty good coverage. Even Verizon doesn't launch on all sites in a market initially. Usually less than 50%, then filling in with more and more sites every few months.   Anticipated Sites Complete at Market Launch. According to the Network Vision schedules that S4GRU has reviewed, if Sprint launched the market in December, these are the anticipated sites that would likely have LTE complete at that time. This would provide fairly good LTE coverage over many parts of the market.   Schedule details and the bottom line   We currently do not have a date that Sprint will formally "launch" LTE service around the Tampa Bay. It is difficult to try to pick a date now this far out, but we will take a stab at it. In looking at the schedule as of today, it would indicate a December market launch (going on a 40% - 50% completion for launch). But there is no way to know if Ericsson and their subcontractors will actually hit their schedule dates this early in the deployment for this market. We will be able to gauge better after a few months of production.   Ericsson will only need to hit a production rate of 45 sites per month to stay on schedule. This appears to us to be an achievable rate. If properly prepared and equipped and if backhaul is ready timely, this market shouldn't have problems staying on time. But this is easy to say before they get started.   S4GRU has examined the schedule in great detail in this market and sees that most of the sites will be complete by March 2013. However, there may be a few sporadic sites that will linger past the completion.   Photo of Tampa 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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Orlando Network Vision/LTE Deployment schedule update

by Robert Herron Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Friday, June 29, 2012 - 8:59 AM MDT   The next market in our Network Vision/LTE deployment schedule update series is The City Beautiful...Orlando. The Orlando market has yet to be announced by Sprint, but is expected to be announced in the near future. Perhaps around the time of the first market launches.   The Sprint Orlando market encompasses all of the East Central portion of the Florida peninsula. Including the Orlando metro area, Melbourne/Palm Bay area, Port St. Lucie, Daytona Beach/Port Orange Area, Lakeland/Winter Haven, Palm Coast, Titusville/Cocoa Beach/Space Coast, Deltona and Vero Beach. Sprint's Network Vision OEM Ericsson is scheduled to begin mobilizing with its subcontractors in July. Completed Network Vision sites are scheduled to start coming online in September. However, if they mobilize in July, sites may start actually coming online in August.   Orlando Market Launch   It was Sprint's original plan to launch markets when they reached 50% of sites converted to Network Vision. However, it has now been determined that Sprint will move up launches sooner than 50% completion in several markets. This is likely to maintain a Mid 2012 launch in markets that have already been announced. However, in an unannounced market like Orlando, we don't know if they will resume pushing back market launches to 50%, or if they will now settle on a 40% completion to be the new normal for market launches.   If Sprint waits for 50% completion to launch this market, it would make the launch approximately January (should the OEM stay on schedule). If they plan on a 40% market completion for launch, that would be December. You may think that 40% - 50% site completion is not enough to launch LTE service, but it would provide pretty good coverage. Even Verizon doesn't launch on all sites in a market initially. Usually less than 50%, then filling in with more and more sites every few months.   Anticipated Sites Complete at Market Launch. According to the Network Vision schedules that S4GRU has reviewed, if Sprint launched the market in December, these are the anticipated sites that would likely have LTE complete at that time. This would provide fairly good LTE coverage over many parts of the market.   Schedule details and the bottom line   We currently do not have a date that Sprint will formally "launch" LTE service in Orlando. It is difficult to try to pick a date now this far out, but we will take a stab at it. In looking at the schedule as of today, it would indicate a December or January market launch (going on a 40% - 50% completion for launch). But there is no way to know if Ericsson and their subcontractors will actually hit their schedule dates this early in the deployment for this market. We will be able to gauge better after a few months of production.   Ericsson will need to hit a production rate of 65 sites per month to stay on schedule. This is an achievable rate in our opinion. If properly prepared and equipped and if backhaul is ready timely, this market shouldn't have problems staying on time.   S4GRU has examined the schedule in great detail in this market and sees that most of the sites will be complete by May 2013. However, there may be a few sporadic sites that will linger past the completion. Photo of the Orlando 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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Nashville Network Vision/LTE Deployment schedule update

by Robert Herron Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Thursday, June 28, 2012 - 12:59 PM MDT   The next market in our Network Vision/LTE deployment schedule update series is The Music City...Nashville. The Nashville market has yet to be announced by Sprint, but is expected to be announced in the near future. Perhaps around the time of the first market launches on July 15th?   The Sprint Nashville market encompasses all of the Sprint native coverage in eastern Tennessee, and the Tri-Cities area of Western Virginia. This includes the Nashville, Chattanooga, Knoxville, Clarksville and the Tri-Cities (Johnson City/Kingsport/Bristol). Sprint's Network Vision OEM Ericsson is scheduled to begin mobilizing in this area with its subcontractors in late July. Completed Network Vision sites should start coming online before the end of August.   Nashville Market Launch   It was Sprint's original plan to launch markets when they reached 50% of sites converted to Network Vision. However, it has now been determined that Sprint will move up launches sooner than 50% completion in several markets. This is likely to maintain a Mid 2012 launch in markets that have already been announced. However, in an unannounced market like Nashville, we don't know if they will resume pushing back market launches to 50%, or if they will now settle on a 40% completion to be the new normal for market launches.   If Sprint waits for 50% completion to launch the Nashville market, it would make the launch month to be December (should the OEM stay on schedule). If they plan on a 40% market completion for launch, that would be November. You may think that 40% - 50% site completion is not enough to launch LTE service, but it would provide pretty good coverage. Even Verizon doesn't launch on all sites in a market initially. Usually less than 50%, then filling in with more and more sites every few months.   Anticipated Sites Complete at Market Launch. According to the Network Vision schedules that S4GRU has reviewed, if Sprint launched the market in November, these are the anticipated sites that would likely have LTE complete at that time. This would provide fairly good LTE coverage over many parts of the market. Some sites are scheduled to be live in the Tri-Cities at the time. However, Chattanooga and Knoxville sites won't start until early 2013.   Schedule details and the bottom line   We currently do not have a date that Sprint will formally "launch" the Nashville market. It is difficult to try to pick a date now this far out. And we know Sprint won't want to do that. But we will take a stab at it. In looking at the schedule as of today, it would indicate a November market launch (going on a 40% - 50% completion for launch). But there is no way to know if Ericsson and their subcontractors will actually hit their schedule dates this early in the deployment for this market. We will be able to gauge better after a few months of production.   Ericsson will need to hit a production rate of 85 sites per month to stay on schedule. This will be a difficult rate to achieve and maintain consistently. Guessing now and based on the best production rates thus far, I could see this market taking longer to complete. Since they should be starting soon, we will be able to understand how things are going in a few months.   S4GRU has examined the schedule in great detail in this market and sees that most of the sites are scheduled to be complete by March 2013. However, there may be a few sporadic sites that will linger past the completion.   Photo of Knoxville 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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Central Jersey Network Vision/LTE Deployment schedule update

by Robert Herron Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Thursday, June 28, 2012 - 7:50 AM MDT   The next market in our Network Vision/LTE deployment schedule update series is...Central Jersey. The Central Jersey market has yet to be announced by Sprint, but is expected to be announced in the near future. Perhaps around the time of the first market launches on July 15th?   Sprint's Network Vision OEM Alcatel/Lucent initially deployed to the Central Jersey market quite early, starting work back in November 2011 at a site in Branchburg. AlcaLu later established their 4G LTE FIT (field testing) areas around the Marlboro/Freehold areas at the beginning of 2012. There are already 20 sites in this area with live Network Vision upgrades...both 3G and 4G LTE. And work is just about to begin in other parts of the market in the next 30 to 45 days.   Network Vision Sites in the Central Jersey market. 14 sites are complete in the market around Marlboro/Freehold. All of these broadcasting Sprint LTE, and some of them have been reported as not being blocked at this time.   Market Launch and Remaining Schedule   It was Sprint's original plan to launch markets when they reached 50% of sites converted to Network Vision. However, in recently seen correspondence, Sprint has decided to move up launches sooner than 50% completion in many instances. This is likely to maintain a Mid 2012 launch in markets that have already been announced. However, in an unannounced market like Central Jersey, we don't know if they will resume pushing back market launches to 50%, or if they will now settle on a 40% completion to be the new normal for market launches.   If Sprint waits for 50% completion to launch the Central Jersey market, it would make the launch around the middle of December (should they stay on schedule). That being said, if Sprint should launch around mid November (as we suspect), then the market would be well under 50% complete. This doesn't sound like enough, 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.   Anticipated Sites Complete at Market Launch. According to the Network Vision schedules that S4GRU has reviewed, if Sprint launched the market in November, 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 reporting that most of the Network Vision sites around Marlboro have both 3G EVDO and 4G LTE complete. It is not known at this time if the new sites that start coming online will have both 4G and 3G complete at the same time. But we are keeping our fingers crossed.   The bottom line...   We currently do not have a date that Sprint will formally "launch" the Central Jersey market. We believe they are targeting a launch month of November based on our review of the schedule. Sprint's Network Vision schedule for this market currently has almost 15 Network Vision sites complete.   Alcatel/Lucent is plotting continual progress from here with production increasing up to a rate of almost 50 sites per month. S4GRU has poured over the schedule in this market and sees a February 2013 completion date. In our estimation of the schedule, AlcaLu can certainly finish this market timely.   Photo of New Brunswick 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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South West Florida Network Vision/LTE Deployment schedule update

by Robert Herron Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Wednesday, June 27, 2012 - 12:59 PM MDT   The next market in our Network Vision/LTE deployment schedule update series is...South West Florida. South West Florida has yet to be announced by Sprint, but is expected to be announced in the near future. Perhaps around the time of the first market launches.   The Sprint South West Florida market encompasses all of the Sprint native coverage in Manatee, Sarasota, Lee and Collier counties. Including the Sarasota/Bradenton area, Port Charlotte/Punta Gorda, Ft. Myers/Cape Coral, Bonita Springs and Naples. Sprint's Network Vision OEM Ericsson is scheduled to begin mobilizing with its subcontractors in early August. Completed Network Vision sites should start coming online before the end of September.   South West Florida Market Launch   It was Sprint's original plan to launch markets when they reached 50% of sites converted to Network Vision. However, it has now been determined that Sprint will move up launches sooner than 50% completion in several markets. This is likely to maintain a Mid 2012 launch in markets that have already been announced. However, in an unannounced market like South West Florida, we don't know if they will resume pushing back market launches to 50%, or if they will now settle on a 40% completion to be the new normal for market launches.   If Sprint waits for 50% completion to launch this market, it would make the launch approximately Mid December (should the OEM stay on schedule). If they plan on a 40% market completion for launch, that would be Mid November. You may think that 40% - 50% site completion is not enough to launch LTE service, but it would provide pretty good coverage. Even Verizon doesn't launch on all sites in a market initially. Usually less than 50%, then filling in with more and more sites every few months.   Anticipated Sites Complete at Market Launch. According to the Network Vision schedules that S4GRU has reviewed, if Sprint launched the market in Mid November, these are the anticipated sites that would likely have LTE complete at that time. This would provide fairly good LTE coverage over many parts of the market.   Schedule details and the bottom line   We currently do not have a date that Sprint will formally "launch" LTE service in South West Florida. It is difficult to try to pick a date now this far out, but we will take a stab at it. In looking at the schedule as of today, it would indicate a November or December market launch (going on a 40% - 50% completion for launch). But there is no way to know if Ericsson and their subcontractors will actually hit their schedule dates this early in the deployment for this market. We will be able to gauge better after a few months of production.   Ericsson will only need to hit a production rate of 30 sites per month to stay on schedule. This is a pretty low rate and should be able to be achieved. If properly prepared and equipped and if backhaul is ready timely, this market shouldn't have problems staying on time. But time makes fools of us all!   S4GRU has examined the schedule in great detail in this market and sees that most of the sites will be complete by March 2013. However, there may be a few sporadic sites that will linger past the completion.   Photo of Bonita Beach 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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Ready for LTE launching? Sprint says mark your calendar for July 15th in Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City and San Antonio

by Robert Herron
Sprint 4G Rollout Updates
Wednesday, June 27, 2012 - 10:09 AM MDT   Speculation is over. Sprint is going to stop blocking LTE connections and launch service in 5 of the 6 announced markets on July 15th. LTE service will be live, on or before July 15th in Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City and San Antonio. However, Baltimore is an announced market that is not listed in this new release. It is not shocking to S4GRU readers that Baltimore is not quite ready yet. We are tracking the completed sites in all Sprint markets, and we know that none of the completed Network Vision sites in the Baltimore market even have LTE live yet, as we mentioned in our recent Baltimore schedule update article. Good news for you LTE device holders in these announced markets. Anyone want to hold a nerd riot in celebration on the streets?       Source: Sprint
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Memphis Network Vision/LTE Deployment schedule update

by Robert Herron Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Wednesday, June 27, 2012 - 6:00 AM MDT   The next market in our Network Vision/LTE deployment schedule update series is The River City...Memphis. The Memphis market has yet to be announced by Sprint, but is expected to be announced in the near future. Perhaps around the time of the first market launches.   The Sprint Memphis market encompasses all of the Sprint native coverage in western Tennessee, northern Mississippi and NE Arkansas. This includes the Memphis metropolitan area, Jackson, Dyersburg, Tupelo, Mississippi's Golden Triangle (Columbus, Starkville, West Point), Greenwood and Jonesboro in Arkansas. Sprint's Network Vision OEM Ericsson is scheduled to begin mobilizing in this area with its subcontractors in early August. Completed Network Vision sites should start coming online in September.   Memphis Market Launch   It was Sprint's original plan to launch markets when they reached 50% of sites converted to Network Vision. However, it has now been determined that Sprint will move up launches sooner than 50% completion in several markets. This is likely to maintain a Mid 2012 launch in markets that have already been announced. However, in an unannounced market like Memphis, we don't know if they will resume pushing back market launches to 50%, or if they will now settle on a 40% completion to be the new normal for market launches.   If Sprint waits for 50% completion to launch the Memphis market, it would make the launch month to be December (should the OEM stay on schedule). If they plan on a 40% market completion for launch, that would be November. You may think that 40% - 50% site completion is not enough to launch LTE service, but it would provide pretty good coverage. Even Verizon doesn't launch on all sites in a market initially. Usually less than 50%, then filling in with more and more sites every few months.   Anticipated Sites Complete at Market Launch. According to the Network Vision schedules that S4GRU has reviewed, if Sprint launched the market in November, these are the anticipated sites that would likely have LTE complete at that time. This would provide fairly good LTE coverage over many parts of the market. Some sites will are scheduled to be live in Jackson, Dyersburg and Jonesboro at the time. However, Mississippi sites won't start until early 2013.   Schedule details and the bottom line   We currently do not have a date that Sprint will formally "launch" the Memphis market. It is difficult to try to pick a date now this far out. And we know Sprint won't want to do that. But we will take a stab at it. In looking at the schedule as of today, it would indicate a November market launch (going on a 40% - 50% completion for launch). But there is no way to know if Ericsson and their subcontractors will actually hit their schedule dates this early in the deployment for this market. We will be able to gauge better after a few months of production.   Ericsson will only need to hit a production rate of 40 sites per month to stay on schedule. This should be an easy to achieve rate. If properly prepared and equipped, and if backhaul is ready timely, this market shouldn't have problems staying on time. But this is easy to say before they get started.   S4GRU has examined the schedule in great detail in this market and sees that most of the sites will be complete by February 2013. However, there may be a few sporadic sites that will linger past the completion.   Photo of Memphis 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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New York City Network Vision/LTE Deployment schedule update

by Robert Herron Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Tuesday, June 26, 2012 - 5:09 PM MDT   I hear from yous guys all the time, so I know that the Big Apple is ready to take a big bite out of the upcoming Sprint LTE network. So it is with great joy, that the next market in our Network Vision/LTE deployment schedule update series is...New York City. This market has not been announced by Sprint, but appears to be on the way for a November/December launch.   The Sprint NYC market covers all of the New York Boroughs, up into Westchester and the Lower Hudson Valley up through Newburgh and Poughkeepsie. Sprint's Network Vision OEM Alcatel/Lucent has been actively deploying in the New York City market since April and is making good progress. As of this week, there are approximately 30 Network Vision sites that have completed upgrades. These sites are located throughout the market.   Network Vision Sites in the New York City market. Approximately thirty Network Vision sites are complete in the market.   Market Launch and Remaining Schedule   It was Sprint's original plan to launch markets when they reached 50% of sites converted to Network Vision. However, it has now been determined that Sprint will move up launches sooner than 50% completion in several markets. This is likely to maintain a Mid 2012 launch in markets that have already been announced. However, in an unannounced market like New York, we don't know if they will resume pushing back market launches to 50%, or if they will now settle on a 40% completion to be the new normal for market launches.   If Sprint waits for 50% completion to launch the NYC market, it would make the launch month to be as late as January (should AlcaLu stay on schedule). That being said, if Sprint should launch some time in November (as we suspect), then the market would be less than 50% complete. This doesn't sound like enough, but it would provide pretty good coverage. Even Verizon doesn't launch on all sites in a market initially. Usually less than 50%, then filling in with more and more sites every few months.   Anticipated Sites Complete at Market Launch. According to the Network Vision schedules that S4GRU has reviewed, if Sprint launched the market in November, these are the anticipated sites that would likely have LTE complete at that time. This would provide fairly good LTE coverage over many parts of the market.   Sprint is not reporting any of these live Network Vision sites in the NYC market as currently broadcasting 4G LTE, only 3G EVDO. According to the NV schedule, these should have started coming online in June with LTE. However, none have shown up as LTE active to date. This most likely means that either the backhaul is not quite ready to service 4G LTE, or the 4G cores that these sites are tied to are not quite ready for LTE traffic. A huge backlog of LTE 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 New York City market. We believe they are targeting a launch month of October based on reports internally within Sprint. However, after reviewing the schedule, we don't see how they could launch before November unless the market deployment speeds up faster than scheduled, or they lower the percentage for launch to be less than 40%. We will be listening closely when Sprint announces the next round of market launch projections to see if they include New York, or even if they so boldly announce a date.   Sprint's schedule for this market currently has 31 Network Vision sites complete. Alcatel/Lucent is continuing to progress and is planning to increase the production rate up to 90 sites per month from here forward. This seems like a very high rate, but plausible with the right resources allocated to the job.   S4GRU has examined the schedule in great detail in this market and sees that most of the sites will be complete by May 2013. However, there are several sites that will linger past the completion. In our estimation of the schedule, AlcaLu is currently a little behind schedule, but can recover if they start increasing production to 20+ sites per week in July.   Photo of Manhattan 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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The Wall

32GB Samsung Galaxy S-III Preorders supposedly on their way out for shipping...finally!

by Robert Herron
Sprint 4G Rollout Updates
Tuesday, June 26, 2012 - 4:00 PM MDT   It appears that the logjam has been cleared and the 32GB Samsung Galaxy S-III pre-orders by Sprint customers are finally starting to roll. And yours truly has been one of those affected, sitting in backorder purgatory. We informed you all last week about the delay affecting 32GB models reportedly caused by overwhelming global demand that Samsung couldn't keep up with. The sources say that devices started shipping out today, and that customers should see an update at Sprint's website. However, in checking my status just before going to print still showed my device as backordered. Also note that I finished up my pre-order only minutes after the pre-order sent went live. So hopefully this info is legit and the devices are on their way. It appears my wait is nearly over, as well as for thousands of other Sprint customers who boldly stepped out and pre-ordered the 32GB version of the Galaxy S-III. Soon I will be able to write that radio performance article comparing the GS-III, EVO LTE, Galaxy Nexus, Epic 4G Touch and EVO 3D. Stay tuned for that! EDIT: I received a tracking number late tonight and see my GS3 is at the Louisville Airport on its way to me. The end is nigh!!!     Source: Phandroid, Sprint
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