New LTE devices and spectrum support?

[Matthias]

Does anyone know if the first LTE devices will support both the 1900mhz spectrum of Sprint and the 800/900mhz spectrum of Sprint? I know Sprint is initially using the 1900mhz spectrum for LTE, just wanting to know if the devices will support the other frequencies also that Sprint will use in the future when deploying the LTE network.

[pyroscott]

I've been wondering this same thing. I think there are a lot of savvy users that will be waiting for at least 800/900/1900 capability

 

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk

[S4GRU]

It's the million dollar question. I've asked some inside Sprint sources, they all say they don't know either. I find that hard to believe. So I'm left to think the worst. Although, I have two new leads I'm chasing down. I'm hoping that one of them will lead me to the pot of gold!

[Matthias]

Thanks for the reply, besides more WP7 phone options (like the Nokia Lumia 900), this is my other big concern with LTE.

 

Thank You for this site S4GRU, it is a great resource and is more helpful than Sprint and most media outlets when it comes to Sprint and what they are doing.

[Sgt. Slaughter]

Id be willing to bet you wont see 800MHz LTE surported devices till closer to the official shut off date for iDEN.

 

I did see the HTC phone with dual LTE band support the other day though....http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/08/vodafone-htc-velocity-lte-germany/

 

When you talk about 800MHz supported LTE devices you also have to think about the ones that will handle Clear's spectrum too for when they make the switch over....thats 3 bands there but dont think they ALL will be used till after 2015 when Sprint isn't supporting WiMax "officially" anymore.

[MacinJosh]

It's the million dollar question. I've asked some inside Sprint sources, they all say they don't know either. I find that hard to believe. So I'm left to think the worst. Although, I have two new leads I'm chasing down. I'm hoping that one of them will lead me to the pot of gold!

 

I thought that 800MHz LTE was going to be LTE Advanced? Or did I miss the standard LTE roll-out on 800MHz before the LTE Advanced upgrade?

[S4GRU]

I thought that 800MHz LTE was going to be LTE Advanced? Or did I miss the standard LTE roll-out on 800MHz before the LTE Advanced upgrade?

 

You missed something. 800MHz LTE is being held up by iDEN decommissioning, not LTE Advanced. Sprint is deploying all its LTE in Network Vision to be LTE Advanced ready. So it will be easy to implement LTE Advanced when it comes out. And the time line for LTE Advanced is not firm. It's estimated to be the end of 2013 or early 2014 for LTE Advanced to be out there.

 

Sprint is fully deploying 800MHz 1xA and LTE carriers in Network Vision right now. Everything down to the antennas that will propagate 800 are being deployed in Network Vision. However, when the Ericsson, Samsung or A/L trucks drive away from a completed NV site, only 1900 will be broadcast from the NV cell site.

 

However, once iDEN is fully decommissioned in a market, Sprint can remotely turn on the 800 to begin transmitting without even a site visit. So Sprint will likely have places they could start turning on 800 service before the end of 2012.

 

One thing I don't know yet, though, is what will they be turning on using 800 at the end of 2012? They may just turn on 1xA only on 800 initially. For instance, if they do not have devices out there that support LTE on 800, why turn it on? We don't know yet if Sprint will be releasing LTE devices that support 800 this year. So it would make zero sense to run the 800 LTE carriers if there were no devices that could use them. Since it's all remote controlled in NV, they would likely wait to turn on 800 LTE until after devices were being sold that support it. But we still don't when that will be.

 

There will not be a 1900 LTE network, and a separate 800 LTE Advanced network though. LTE Advanced does not increase performance in itself. The big changes coming with LTE Advanced is aggregating carriers and increased MIMO support. When people are talking about faster speeds with LTE Advanced, it's not because it's faster than LTE with all things being equal.

 

A single 5x5 LTE carrier without MIMO will perform the same as a 5x5 LTE Advanced carrier without MIMO. What LTE Advanced does is allow multiple carriers to be aggregated together for faster speeds, and more MIMO antennas installed to allow the device to talk to and send data back and forth to different carriers simultaneously. This is what can cause the break neck theoretical speeds everyone is gushing about with LTE Advanced. However, if you just put LTE Advanced on an existing LTE network, with no other changes, the network will perform the same.

 

To get the 100MB+ speeds with LTE Advanced, FDD-LTE wireless cos are going to need to aggregate 3 10x10 FD-LTE carriers. And currently, no one in America can do that. Even Verizon currently only has one 10x10 carrier. Other than Clearwire, no American wireless co has enough spectrum to try to aggregate really large carriers. So LTE Advanced is going to be a big disappointment for consumers who are expecting their wireless carrier all of a sudden to be faster than their cable modem. That will not happen for a long time, and only if more spectrum gets allocated for wireless broadband. Other than maybe Clearwire.

 

What LTE Advanced is going to do most, is allow wireless companies to aggregate small chunks of spectrum together to be more useful. This is what Sprint is going to do. Sprint is going to deploy two separate 5x5 FD-LTE carriers. One in 1900 and another in 800. When LTE Advanced comes out, Sprint will then aggregate these two carriers together. This will allow their LTE now perform more like Verizon's 10x10 nationwide carrier. This is a big deal. And this is going to be critical for the small and regional wireless companies who have much more limited pockets of spectrum, sometimes in different band classes.

 

So LTE Advanced will allow better performance, but not in the way many people are thinking. In the short term, LTE Advanced is more about maximizing small chunks of spectrum holdings into something more useful. However, LTE Advanced could really mean something big for Clearwire. As they have the big chunks of spectrum available to start aggregating big carriers into a monster of a LTE network. But I'm still not sold that the world wants mobile data faster than 20MB to 30MB. And they definitely don't want it if it comes at a premium cost.

[Sgt. Slaughter]

.... Other than Clearwire, no American wireless co has enough spectrum to try to aggregate really large carriers. So LTE Advanced is going to be a big disappointment for consumers who are expecting their wireless carrier all of a sudden to be faster than their cable modem. That will not happen for a long time, and only if more spectrum gets allocated for wireless broadband. Other than maybe Clearwire.

.......

 

So LTE Advanced will allow better performance, but not in the way many people are thinking. In the short term, LTE Advanced is more about maximizing small chunks of spectrum holdings into something more useful. However, LTE Advanced could really mean something big for Clearwire. As they have the big chunks of spectrum available to start aggregating big carriers into a monster of a LTE network. ....

 

This is why Clear is still very important to Sprint imho. without them Sprint Spectrum holdings is hurting in the long run big time no? Dont they own something like 90-150MHZ of the spectrum in most markets? think thats what I read last, though that was long ago too...That spectrum there trumps the big dogs, and when tech advances and we can have the phones use the same power the external clear modems do signal issues will go away for most part. Just need tech to advance to be able to do that.

[Matthias]

Has anyone heard any updates on the first LTE phones being both 800mhz and 1900mhz compatible?

[legion125]

Nothing official, however, it would be dumb IMO to make the 1st gen LTE phones only capable in the 1900 range and 6+ months later turn on the 800 MHz switch and lose capability. It's too easy just to have the chip sets set up for this and make the phone future proof. The 2.5 MHz spectrum is another story.

[Sgt. Slaughter]

Was thinking about this again the other day.....I remembered reading an article last year saying sprint planned on selling devices that will work on 2.5GHz in 2013....which would make some sense given clear saying theyll have X towers up by June 2013...

 

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/245287/sprint_clearwire_lay_out_deals_on_lte_wimax_funding.html

 

 

guess this is gonna make me think long and hard about this last premier upgrade I have. Knowing I will have to hold onto the device for 20months is a big stickler for me and upgrading this year would cause me to miss the handsets the next year that likely would support the clear freq if they are not released this year...

 

ugh can't i just have my premier status back?!! over 10+ years of loyalty isn't worth anything anymore.... such a shame...