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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


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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?

 

Quote

Sprint to Unleash the Speed and Power of 4G LTE in Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City and San Antonio on July 15

Sprint CEO Dan Hesse announces that new network will deliver faster data speeds with 4G LTE and an improved overall 3G experience; Sprint brings an overall quality experience and unequaled value to customers

ATLANTA (BUSINESS WIRE), June 27, 2012 - As summer begins to sizzle,Sprint (NYSE:S) CEO Dan Hesse today invited Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City and San Antonio customers to harness the speed and power of 4G LTE on July 15 and to further enjoy the top-rated customer satisfaction experience among all national carriers, according to the 2012 American Customer Satisfaction Index.

To better meet the growing voice and data demands of wireless customers, Sprint is building an all-new, nationwide 3G and 4G LTE network through the Network Vision program. This means that whether a Sprint customer is using a smartphone to share a picture or to check the Web, Sprint 4G LTE will make it faster. Coupling the speed of 4G LTE with the industry’s only truly unlimited data plan for smartphones makes Sprint the best choice in wireless.* Additionally, the new network provides significant enhancements to Sprint 3G service. Customers will experience better signal strength, fewer dropped/blocked calls, faster data speeds, expanded coverage and better overall performance as the improvements roll out across the country.

“The performance of both the 4G LTE and improved 3G networks are exceeding our expectations and we are pleased with the progress of the entire Network Vision program,” said Hesse.

With the launch on July 15, Sprint will have debuted 4G LTE to millions of people in five major metropolitan areas with more market launches in 2012 to be announced later this year. By the end of 2013, Sprint expects to have largely completed the build out of its all-new 4G LTE nationwide network – with an enhanced 3G network – covering 250 million people across the United States.

The Wireless Industry’s Most Customer-Friendly Data Plans

In today’s competitive wireless market, the value of unlimited has never been more apparent. Sprint’s Everything Data plan with Any Mobile, AnytimeSM includes unlimited data, texting and calling to and from any mobile phone in America while on the Sprint network, starting at just $79.99 per month for smartphones.

Sprint continues the trend of delivering value to customers through its portfolio of 4G LTE-capable devices and unlimited data experience with Sprint Everything Data plans. Sprint has already launched five 4G LTE-capable devices for less than $200 – HTC EVO™ 4G LTE ($199.99); LG Viper™ 4G LTE ($99.99); Samsung Galaxy Nexus ($199.99); Samsung Galaxy S III ($199.99 for 16GB version) and Sierra Wireless™ 4G LTE Tri-Fi Hotspot, the nation’s first to support 4G LTE, 4G WiMAX and 3G ($99.99) (all pricing excludes taxes).

Over the past several years, Sprint has been working hard to deliver the best customer experience. Recently, the American Customer Satisfaction Index ranked Sprint No. 1 among all national carriers and most improved in customer satisfaction, across all 47 industries, over the last four years. Building an all-new network is the linchpin to make Sprint the company customers want to do business with.

The launch of these metropolitan areas demonstrates the continued commitment by Sprint to invest in its network through Network Vision. For the most up-to-date details on Sprint’s 4G LTE portfolio and rollout, please visit www.sprint.com/4GLTE.

 

 

Source: Sprint

  • Like 12

37 Comments


Recommended Comments



mase31

Posted

Sprint should have did LTE in large citys first like they did with WIMAX.

  • Like 1
NeoteriX

Posted

As a reminder -- what is the rough network completion in all of these markets? Is Sprint still going with the 50% completion for launch or something less? (or more?) -- can we derive any further launch predictions from this information?

S4GRU

Posted

Sprint should have did LTE in large citys first like they did with WIMAX.

 

I think people will take issue with your comment. The comment is problematic for several reasons.

 

1. Clearwire did not start WiMax in the largest markets first. They had to practically be forced by Sprint to switch to the largest markets when the EVO was preparing to launch. There were SO MANY complaints that Sprint/Clearwire were not upgrading the largest cities initially. They didn't even finish them all before they stopped deploying WiMax in early 2011.

 

2. These are all large cities. Dallas, Houston and Atlanta are among the largest cities in our country.

 

3. New York and Los Angeles have already begun Network Vision and LTE. They are working on them. However, these markets are so large, that they will take more time to be ready for launch. Should they wait to launch very large cities even longer until the most worthy of large cities are ready? Of course not.

 

The bottom line is, they should launch every market as soon as possible. And they are very interested in launching every market. However, Sprint's deployment order makes much, much more sense than Clearwire's did with WiMax by every measurable standard.

 

Robert

  • Like 9
S4GRU

Posted

As a reminder -- what is the rough network completion in all of these markets? Is Sprint still going with the 50% completion for launch or something less? (or more?) -- can we derive any further launch predictions from this information?

 

Sprint is targeting 40% for launches. However, with these markets, I think they have just drawn a line in the sand because they didn't want to launch late. Most of these markets will be in the 30% to 35% range by July 15th based on an educated guess on the best production they can produce between now and launch.

 

Robert

  • Like 2
mase31

Posted

Oh can,t forget about Philadelphia which is the 4 largest city in the USA Sprint should be taking of Philly also

danielholt

Posted

well this is good news since im leaving atlanta/athens next week after almost a year of living here. thanks alot :(

S4GRU

Posted

Oh can,t forget about Philadelphia which is the 4 largest city in the USA Sprint should be taking of Philly also

 

Philadelphia is in the Second Round. No one is happy unless their market is first. And I don't mean to single you out, but do you know how many comments that I get like this every day?

 

Network Vision, when you consider how large the scope is involving every single site and replacing and reconfiguring every piece of equipment...heck, replacing the entire Sprint network. It is enormous, and how fast they are going to do all of it, in less than 24 months from now, well, it's the most ambitious wireless project in American history. Much larger and more ambitious than Verizon's LTE deployment.

 

And there is a roadmap to get there. And it has to be put in an order. Some of that order was determined by Sprint, some of that was determined by how fast things can happen in a certain market, like permitting/zoning and backhaul upgrades. There is so much that goes into making a schedule.

 

It is not just Dan Hesse sitting back picking winners and losers.

 

Robert

  • Like 6
danielholt

Posted

i for one am outraged that sante fe is not getting LTE first.

  • Like 4
danielholt

Posted

WHY ISNT RALEIGH ON THE LIST.... HEY RALEIGH IS THE RESEARCH TRIANGLE

  • Like 3
S4GRU

Posted

WHY ISNT RALEIGH ON THE LIST.... HEY RALEIGH IS THE RESEARCH TRIANGLE

 

*rolls eyes*

 

Robert

  • Like 2
danielholt

Posted

oh you know what im talking about.

  • Like 2
kckid

Posted

Was someone hoping a little when they said "on or before July 15th" or do they have additional information? I only see on July 15th in the press release. :)

newspapercrane

Posted

Robert's on the warpath today. I like it. Persionally, I won't be happy until I can get 15Mbit down and upstream in the middle of a cornfield in Iowa.

  • Like 3
themuffinman

Posted

Atlanta for the win, its about damn time. Anyway though, if it weren't for s4gru I would have probably jumped ship to att months ago. Thanks Robert for all your hard work.

  • Like 11
danielholt

Posted

about damn time? wtf? go count your LTE phones. lol.

  • Like 3
themuffinman

Posted

about damn time? wtf? go count your LTE phones. lol.

 

Ok, I will....... :(

  • Like 3
Ghostalker

Posted

Disappointing to see Baltimore lagging behind. Any idea of when they will be probably be at the 35%-40% launch area?

blinky847

Posted

Its not very assuring that Baltimore got kicked off the list....

 

And no, I am not complaining about Chicago not being in the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd round launches either. ;-)

S4GRU

Posted

Was someone hoping a little when they said "on or before July 15th" or do they have additional information? I only see on July 15th in the press release. :)

 

There is a possibility that they will unblock prior to the launch. We just now know what the drop dead date for that is.

 

Robert

S4GRU

Posted

Disappointing to see Baltimore lagging behind. Any idea of when they will be probably be at the 35%-40% launch area?

 

My guess at this point is Mid August. But we won't know for certain until they start turning on some LTE sites in BWI. So far, all the NV sites completed only have 3G active. I have a feeling that is going to change though this week.

 

Robert

  • Like 1
S4GRU

Posted

And no, I am not complaining about Chicago not being in the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd round launches either. ;-)

 

I hope not. I hear I am on the warpath! :twitch:

 

j/k

 

Robert

  • Like 3
ericdabbs

Posted

Oh can,t forget about Philadelphia which is the 4 largest city in the USA Sprint should be taking of Philly also

 

I believe Houston is the 4th largest city and Philly is 5th but close enough.

whodatboy77

Posted

Finally, some progress sprint. keep on pushing in the DC area

danielholt

Posted

you see... the call it the research triangle cause raleigh-durham-chapel hill form a triangle, and with all the schools, UNC, Duke, NC State, lots of research..... umm...

frankriv

Posted

And Puerto Rico :( this is a mess, so at leats if you guys live on those areas you are ok,,,,,,s4gru is the only placer I can see hope about us!

  • Like 1

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