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.