S4GRU

by Robert Herron Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Monday, October 22, 2012 - 2:50 PM MDT Four more Sprint markets that were slated to begin Network Vision/LTE deployments in 2013 are beginning early. Good news for Sprint customers in the Providence, Upstate NY Central, Southern Jersey and Delaware markets. S4GRU has been able to confirm that Network Vision is now under way in these four markets, all of them being deployed by Alcatel Lucent. This past week, AlcaLu has completed 3G upgrades in a small handful of sites in each of these markets, with 4G yet to come. First LTE signals should start appearing sporadically in these markets in the next 30-60 days. We currently do not have detailed schedules for these markets, so we will not be able to offer projected launch dates or completion dates at this time. However, near some of the first to be converted sites, Sprint customers can look forward to seeing improved 3G speeds and maybe even some testing/prelaunch LTE signals a few months earlier than originally planned. You can join us here at S4GRU and track these depoyments. We have a thread we titled the Network Vision Deployment Running List where you can see a summary of all the Sprint markets currently under deployment. Additionally, we offer even more info where we track the completed sites to date on Interactive Maps in our Sponsor section. Information about sponsorship can be found here: S4GRU Sponsorship Sprint's Providence Market. Alcatel Lucent is starting Network Vision/LTE deployments in the Providence market. Cities that will be a part of this deployment include Providence, Newport, Cranston and Warwick. With only 144 sites, the market may wrap up relatively quickly. Click on Map to Enlarge. Sprint's Upstate NY Central Market. Alcatel Lucent has begun Network Vision/LTE deployments in the Upstate New York Central market. The market includes Syracuse, Utica, Rome, Binghamton, Elmira, Ithaca and Watertown. 257 sites total. Click on Map to Enlarge. Sprint's Southern Jersey Market. Alcatel Lucent has begun Network Vision/LTE deployments in the Southern Jersey market. The market includes Trenton, Camden, Atlantic City, Princeton, Cherry Hill, Vineland, Millville and Cape May. 302 sites total. Click on Map to Enlarge. Sprint's Delaware Market. Alcatel Lucent has begun Network Vision/LTE deployments in the Delaware market. The market includes Wilmington, Dover and the entire state of Delaware, and the small NE corner of Maryland. 139 sites total. Click on Map to Enlarge.

That appears to be a signal coming across the river, if I was guessing. Robert

I do list the weekly site count in the update every Sunday. But not a running total. Robert

military issue

No. We have no Shentel sources. But we do have some great S4GRU members in Shentel Land who feed me data of live sites from observations. Robert

They all are being upgraded. 4G and 3G. It's just a matter of when. Robert

More and more sites going live every week. Most likely a site that is closer (and thus a stronger signal) went live recently. Coverage will just get denser and denser, and better, every week for the next 6 months or so. Robert

Definitely. We typically discuss Sprint markets in the purest technical standpoint. As for trying to count individual cities as a market, that's a purely a marketing phenomenon which is highly subjective and variable depending on the poor sap counting them. Robert

elderberry jam

to S4GRU! Robert

I am posting an article about the Providence market later today. The good news is working is starting a little early. Robert

Probably not. Trying going into CDMA only mode for grins and see what happens. Robert

base closure

Were you roaming to the same tower? Is that site colocated with other carriers? It is possible that the Sprint 1x was down in the area and that was why you were roaming. Not because you were out of range. Robert

It happened a few times to me in Texas. It means you are roaming on 1x, but still connected to Sprint LTE. Robert

I think it's on top of that mountain to the East on the way to Elkton. Shentel has a site up there. Robert

by Robert Herron Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Monday, October 22, 2012 - 11:00 AM MDT Today, Sprint announced in four separate Press Releases that they have brought 4G LTE Service to the Chicagoland area, as well as Wichita Falls Texas, Hutchinson and McPherson Kansas, New Bedford and Fall River, Massachusetts. It is probably no accident that Sprint selected to use the phrase "Sprint brings 4G LTE" in lieu of "launched." Don't misunderstand though that this is good news. LTE service in these newly announced areas has actually been active for awhile (in some places several months). Sprint only announced the outer suburbs of Chicago as being live, but actually Sprint LTE service is live over 80% of the metro area. However, the more urban sites in Chicago need to have service bolstered up even greater before Sprint sticks their neck out and claim the service is live. Even in non launched areas of the Chicago market, LTE service is still usable where sites have been completed. Chicago Sprint LTE Coverage Map. This is the LTE coverage map showing in Chicago as of today. Coverages shown are a little generous with their modeling. This map would indicate coverage is nearly total, but we think it's more like 80%, using a very liberal estimate. In both Hutchinson and McPherson, Kansas, each of those cities now has two LTE sites operable. For McPherson, that covers most of the area, only leaving one more site to upgrade. In Hutchinson, they have two of five sites broadcasting LTE, which covers most of the city pretty well. Service will get even better when full LTE density is achieved. Over in Wichita Falls, Texas, Sprint LTE is usable from three sites out of sixteen. So site density is very thin at this point. Sprint overly optimistically shows very good coverage on their maps saturating the entire Wichita Falls area. Service should be decent when near these three sites, otherwise you will likely only be able to get coverage outside. LTE performance will drastically improve as more and more coverage is added in the next few months. In Southeast Massachusetts, Sprint LTE is also live around Fall River and New Bedford. The first New Bedford LTE site went online about five weeks ago, and the service has been growing since. Currently both New Bedford and Fall River have three LTE sites a piece working. Which is about one third of the total sites in the area. So coverage is OK now, but will get even better over the next few months. On another note, our members discovered the new coverages show up Friday night on the Sprint website and figured out Sprint would be making these announcements on Monday. Clever group we have here at S4GRU. NOTE: In our Sponsor Section, we have interactive maps that show all the completed sites to date, including the sites in the markets referenced in this article. Information about sponsorship can be found here: S4GRU Sponsorship

That's a much better video than what they put out when they initially launched the first 5 markets. Robert via Nexus 7 using Forum Runner

They announced it this morning, actually. Robert via Nexus 7 using Forum Runner

My source in Product Development disappeared a long time ago. When the whole Inside Sprint Now thing exploded back in June after all their device info leaks, I think Sprint clamped down and scared everybody in the division. It was always the tightest division in Sprint to begin with. Inside Sprint Now really upset the apple cart with many of our sources. Robert via Nexus 7 using Forum Runner