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Sprint Marketing Updates 4G LTE City List where work is under way and adds 20 more


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by Robert Herron

Sprint 4G Rollout Updates

Friday, October 12, 2012 - 8:19 AM MDT

 

On this Friday morning, Sprint's marketing cranked out a new Press Release adding 20 additional communities that Sprint anticipates having at least a prelaunch amount of service available to use by its LTE customers before the end of the year.

 

All of these appear to be in areas where Sprint is already working. But just expanding out to other communities within those markets. A couple are a repeat from the previous 100 city list from Sprint, like Warsaw, Marion and South Bend, Indiana and Sebring, Florida. However, I know there are a lot of Ft. Wayne customers who are now happy to see they will not get left behind their Hoosier State counterparts in South Bend.

 

It is no accident that Sprint outlines that the LTE signals that are discovered in these areas are "prelaunch." Sprint is trying to set expectations that these are advance LTE signals that will be usable to customers. It's great that Sprint will allow these sites to be usable pretty quickly after they are complete. But as we have seen around our forums and our social media pages, there is a pretty vocal part of their customer base who expects to have wall to wall coverage immediately upon receiving their first LTE signal. It is important that these people understand that they are getting to use their LTE sites really early, before the whole network is ready. And this is a good thing.

 

Most markets will take a long time from prelaunch phase until they have ubiquitous coverage over the whole area. A few months to a year, depending on the market.

 

EDIT 8:44 AM MDT: After further review, Joplin, MO is the first city in the Missouri market. So there is one new market where deployment is now expanding to. This should be taken as good news that work will also be starting in St. Louis, Springfield, Columbia and Jefferson City in the not-too-distant future.

 

 

Sprint Press Release said:
Sprint Nextel Corporation has posted the following release to its Newsroom website:

 

Sprint Adding 4G LTE to More Than 20 Additional Cities in Coming Months

 

Millions of power data users in several major cities will soon enjoy a 4G LTE experience with the only truly unlimited 4G LTE plans from a national carrier

 

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (BUSINESS WIRE), October 12, 2012 - Continuing its aggressive push to deliver an enhanced top-tier network experience for customers, Sprint (NYSE:S) announced today that its 4G LTE network build is progressing in more than 20 additional cities within its nationwide 3G footprint.

 

The 4G LTE Network build is under way in the following additional areas:

  • San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, CA
  • Cape Coral-Ft Meyers, FL
  • Dyersburg-Union City-Martin, TN
  • Emporia, KS
  • Fort Wayne, IN
  • Greenwood, MS
  • Joplin, MO
  • Kokomo, IN
  • Lafayette/West Lafayette, IN
  • Lexington Park, MD
  • Marion, IN
  • Napa, CA
  • Naples-Marco Island, FL
  • Ottawa-Streator, IL
  • Punta Gorda, FL
  • Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA
  • Sarasota-Bradenton, FL
  • Sebring, FL
  • South Bend-Mishawaka, IN
  • Terre Haute, IN
  • Vallejo-Fairfield, CA
  • Warsaw, IN

“We’re committed to providing improved 3G and 4G LTE as quickly as possible, and keeping our customers informed as to when and where they can experience the new network’s superior performance and speed,” said Bob Azzi, senior vice president-Network, Sprint. “Our customers depend on their mobile devices as their primary source of communication, business connectivity and entertainment. We’re delivering all of that functionality at a very competitive price.”

 

During the pre-launch phase, Sprint customers with capable devices may begin to see 4G LTE coverage in these areas and are welcome to use the network even before it officially launches. Sprint plans to announce commercial availability of 4G LTE in these cities in the coming months, followed by continued enhancements in coverage, performance and reliability. Ultimately, Sprint’s 4G LTE coverage is expected to largely match the existing nationwide 3G footprint.

 

Last month, Sprint announced more than 100 cities where Sprint 4G LTE is on its way, including Boston; Charlotte, N.C.; Chicago; Indianapolis; Los Angeles; Memphis, Tenn.; Miami; Nashville, Tenn.; New Orleans; New York; Philadelphia; and Washington, D.C. The network build out has begun in these cities in addition to those announced In September. The LTE build out is part of Network Vision, an investment program that will also deliver an improved 3G experience to Sprint customers.

 

Today, Sprint offers the new 4G LTE service in 24 metropolitan areas: Atlanta, Ga.; Athens, Ga.; Baltimore; Barnstable-Hyannis/Mid-Cape, Mass.; Calhoun, Ga.; Carrollton, Ga.; Gainesville, Ga.; Dallas; Fort Worth, Texas; Granbury-Hood County, Texas; Houston; Huntsville, Texas; Lawrence, Kan.; Kansas City, Mo.-Kan.; Manhattan/Junction City, Kan.; Newnan, Ga.; Rome, Ga.; San Antonio, Texas; Sedalia, Mo.; St. Joseph, Mo.; Topeka, Kan.; Waco, Texas; Waukegan-Lake County, Ill.; and Wichita, Kan.

 

As part of its overall network strategy, Sprint is also doing a complete overhaul of its 3G infrastructure so that customers can enjoy better wireless signal strength, in-building coverage, and fewer dropped/blocked calls. These enhancements are now available to customers in several markets across the country, with significant deployment in Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City and Washington, D.C., and will continue to improve in the weeks and months ahead.

Unlimited + Sprint 4G LTE = Game-changing wireless offer for customers

 

In today’s competitive wireless market, the value of unlimited has never been more apparent and Sprint is clearly a leading choice in wireless. Customers with capable devices can combine Sprint’s all-new 3G and 4G LTE networks and enjoy unlimited data while on the Sprint network. Data usage continues to increase and consumers value Truly Unlimited data because it’s simple and straightforward – no metering, no throttling, and no need to share data, which increases the likelihood of a surprise monthly bill because of overage charges.

 

Coupled with unbeatable plans and fast devices, Sprint has been working hard to deliver the best customer experience in the past few years. The 2012 American Customer Satisfaction Index ranked Sprint No. 1 among all national carriers in customer satisfaction and most improved, across all 47 industries measured, over the last four years. And Sprint has been ranked Highest in Satisfaction with the Purchase Experience among Full-service Wireless Providers three times in a row by J.D. Power and Associates.

 

For the most up-to-date details on Sprint’s 4G LTE portfolio and rollout, please visitwww.sprint.com/4GLTE.

 

About Sprint Nextel

Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel served more than 56 million customers at the end of the second quarter of 2012 and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; offering industry-leading mobile data services, leading prepaid brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. The American Customer Satisfaction Index rated Sprint No. 1 among all national carriers in customer satisfaction and most improved, across all 47 industries, during the last four years. Newsweek ranked Sprint No. 3 in its 2011 Green Rankings, listing it as one of the nation’s greenest companies, the highest of any telecommunications company. You can learn more and visit Sprint at www.sprint.com or www.facebook.com/sprint and www.twitter.com/sprint.

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Joplin is extreme SW of Missouri, I can't see how that is related to St Louis any more than Kansas City was.

 

B/C Joplin is in the Kansas Market. Easy. Plus Joplin could use a break.

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Well if the missouri market is starting early, maybe Okrahoma can start too? Wishful thinking I know but at least I might catch a taste of LTE on my annual Branson trip.

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Well if the missouri market is starting early, maybe Okrahoma can start too? Wishful thinking I know but at least I might catch a taste of LTE on my annual Branson trip.

 

I don't think it is too far out of line. Seems like we are seeing movement on the "Purgatory Markets." Markets that appeared to slot between 2nd and 3rd Round, like Oklahoma, Missouri, West Kentucky, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Phoenix and Tucson. We have now had good field confirmations from Louisville and Sprint's acknowledgement of work in Missouri, this makes me optimistic for these other markets also stuck in purgatory.

 

Robert

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I don't think it is too far out of line. Seems like we are seeing movement on the "Purgatory Markets." Markets that appeared to slot between 2nd and 3rd Round, like Oklahoma, Missouri, West Kentucky, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Phoenix and Tucson. We have now had good field confirmations from Louisville and Sprint's acknowledgement of work in Missouri, this makes me optimistic for these other markets also stuck in purgatory.Robert

It looks like it might be (in the case of missouri) before round 2, round 1.5? I'm most curious to see if the Joplin is just one exception or if more of missouri starts lighting up.

 

It could be Joplin is just one sub-market that they happen to be able to deploy in. I hope not though!

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It looks like it might be (in the case of missouri) before round 2, round 1.5? I'm most curious to see if the Joplin is just one exception or if more of missouri starts lighting up.It could be Joplin is just one sub-market that they happen to be able to deploy in. I hope not though!

 

If so, that would be the very first time they have crossed a market line and not be working in the rest of the market. So it seems unlikely. Also, we have had confirmation of work going on somewhere in almost every 2nd Round market, except for Southern CA, Pacific NW, Michigan and Long Island. Since the 2nd Round is well under way, it wouldn't be accurate to say Missouri is Round 1.5 if starting now.

 

Robert

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No fighting. Joplin is a part of the Missouri market deployment.

 

I think I understand the consternation. Joplin people are Royals and Chiefs fans. They do not want to be lumped in with those Cardinals and Rams fans, no matter their teams' *short lived* successes.

 

;)

 

AJ

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Does this mean the Sprint's estimated completion date (which, by your estimates, are extremely optimistic) might actually be met because they started two months early?

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Was eating my lunch around Compton/Paramount, CA and noticed the 4g signal. Did some tests and highest I got was 10.37Mbs down and 7.95Mbs up. Hoping to see faster speeds as launch is officially announced.

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Was eating my lunch around Compton/Paramount, CA and noticed the 4g signal. Did some tests and highest I got was 10.37Mbs down and 7.95Mbs up. Hoping to see faster speeds as launch is officially announced.

 

You were just not that close to the tower. If you take your lunch to go and walk towards the tower things will speed up.

 

Also 10.37 Mbps seems pretty fast to me, for a phone. I'd be pretty happy with that. Oh and 4g has not launched yet in California. They are just starting to allow access to the first 4g towers. You were lucky to find one.

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You were just not that close to the tower. If you take your lunch to go and walk towards the tower things will speed up.Also 10.37 Mbps seems pretty fast to me, for a phone. I'd be pretty happy with that. Oh and 4g has not launched yet in California. They are just starting to allow access to the first 4g towers. You were lucky to find one.

 

I'd be pleased with that, for my cable Internet I have the package that gives me between 5-7 Mbps.

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Used a friend's GS3 last night on ATT and downloaded speedtest app on his device. Pulled down an astonishing (at least, to me) 54 mbps down. And this was in a very tightly packed Piedmont Park in Atlanta where many simultaneous connections were occuring on the same tower. Very impressive.

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If so, that would be the very first time they have crossed a market line and not be working in the rest of the market. So it seems unlikely. Also, we have had confirmation of work going on somewhere in almost every 2nd Round market, except for Southern CA, Pacific NW, Michigan and Long Island. Since the 2nd Round is well under way, it wouldn't be accurate to say Missouri is Round 1.5 if starting now.Robert

Are there no "sources" in these markets or is this more of a behind schedule situation?

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Used a friend's GS3 last night on ATT and downloaded speedtest app on his device. Pulled down an astonishing (at least, to me) 54 mbps down. And this was in a very tightly packed Piedmont Park in Atlanta where many simultaneous connections were occuring on the same tower. Very impressive.

 

You inflate the impression. When you ran the speed test, not that "many simultaneous connections" were active, as AT&T 10 MHz FDD LTE with 2x2 MIMO is capable of ~75 Mbps, tops.

 

AJ

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yesss San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, CA i live san bruno its about 15 minutes away san francisco and san mateo and 25 minutes from redwood city

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Are these still part of the "first wave" of cities? I still have a tiny glimmer of hope that Seattle will get coverage by the end of the year

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Thanks for the great site, it is really great source of information about the Sprint network and its deployment.

 

I have two questions. First, there seems to be a difference between the launch date for NYC (Nov. 2012) Sprint's estimated completion date for that market (March 2013) and your estimate of the completion date for that market (2014). I know you said that there would be about 50% coverage (or somewhat less) at launch, but how much coverage would there be by Sprint's estimated completion date of Spring 2013? I'm assuming there will be 100% coverage by your estimated completion date of Spring 2014.

 

Also, any thoughts as to whether Softel's "acquisition" will make the deployment faster or slower, or have no effect? Am I being optimistic in thinking that it will hasten deployment?

 

Thanks again for a great site.

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Is there any information on North Port or Venice coverage? Seems like being here in North Port I might just be surrounded by coverage. Not sure how far those signals in Port Charlotte will reach.

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I live in Vallejo, CA. I can confirm that LTE seems to be present in the vicinity of Kaiser and various parts of Sonoma Blvd.

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I noticed yesterday driving through Greensboro, NC that the enhanced 3G was showing on my phone... Back here in Charlotte, still EVDO Rev A... Usually having the advanced 3G is precursor to LTE being active soon..

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