Sprint LTE-A launch still part of investment plan now targeted at $150M
Sprint’s infatuation with Chicago has increased as the carrier announced plans to expand its workforce and investment in the city.
Building on its previously announced Sprint for Chicago initiative, Sprint said it plans to add 750 new jobs on top of the 300 new jobs already announced, as well as invest close to $150 million in the city by the end of next year. The new jobs are expected to include retail positions, “wireless experts” for Sprint’s Direct 2 You program, network technicians and engineers. Sprint said it currently employs more than 800 people in Chicago.
Earlier this year, Sprint announced plans to add up to 3,500 new jobs as part of a retail expansion following the acquisition of more than 1,400 RadioShack locations. However, the carrier late last year also took charges totaling $265 million related to job cuts at its Overland Park, Kan., headquarters, which came on top of a previously announced move to slash 2,000 positions.
The Chicago financial investment is set to increase from $45 million to the $150 million mark over the next two years, pushing to $250 million including the areas surrounding Chicago. That investment is set to include Sprint’s first deployment of LTE-Advanced technology, which was announced as part of the initial Chicago investment earlier this year.
“Chicago continues to be Sprint’s city of choice for expanding its operations,” said Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure in a statement. “We are in the midst of a historic turnaround at Sprint, and as we continue to attract more customers to our network we need more employees to serve their needs. Our innovative local market approach in Chicago brings us closer to our consumers and allows us to connect one-on-one with them so that we can exceed their expectations and create loyal customers for life.”
Sprint earlier this year scored $2.1 billion in financing tied to the broader deployment of LTE services using its extensive 2.5 GHz spectrum holdings. Sprint at the time said the project was focused on markets with exceedingly high “usage and capacity demands.” This would be part of the carrier’s previous plans to provide a “Tokyo-like” mobile broadband experience in densely populated markets by tapping into the experience of parent company Softbank.
Chicago has been at the core of recent Sprint network initiatives, including an analyst tour last year of its enhanced cell sites tied to its Network Vision and Spark programs.
Sprint also has aggressively moved to include the use of small cells in its network densification plans, with some vendors expecting the carrier to deploy up to 70,000 outdoor picocells.
The carrier noted earlier this year that it is part of a consortium that agreed to spend $32.5 million to install a distributed antenna system in Chicago’s subway. Other carriers involved in the deal include Verizon Wireless, AT&T Mobility and T-Mobile US.
Sprint received a boost in its Chicago operations through the acquisition of U.S. Cellular’s network in the city that was announced in late 2012. The deal, valued at $480 million, included operations in St. Louis and a handful of Midwest markets.
RootMetrics recently cited Chicago as No. 2 in the nation in terms of having the highest quality of commercial wireless communication services.
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