Sprint LTE Plus service aggregates the carrier’s 800 MHz, 1.9 GHz and 2.5 GHz bands, claims second 2.5 GHz carrier added in New York City
Sprint said its spectrum-infused “LTE Plus” service has expanded to 191 markets, including new availability in New York City.
The network, which has gone under various names before being dubbed LTE Plus last November, aggregates Sprint’s spectrum holdings in the 800 MHz, 1.9 GHz and 2.5 GHz bands to bolster coverage and capacity. Sprint claims the spectrum cocktail contributes to peak network speeds in excess of 100 megabits per second, better reliability due to the use of the three spectrum bands and hardware enhancements in the form of smart antenna technology designed to extend the cell signal for the coverage challenged 2.5 GHz band. Customers must have a device compatible with the various bands in order to see the full network benefits, but that selection has steadily grown including Apple’s latest iPhone products and Samsung’s latest Galaxy smartphones.
Specific to New York City, Sprint said it has turned on a second 2.5 GHz channel at more than 900 cell sites across the city with a claimed doubling of network speed and capacity at those sites. Sprint also said it was contracted to complete all seven phases of 279 underground stations in the New York City subway project, wtih the carrier’s LTE deployment in that program set for completion in 2017.
Sprint earlier this year cited results from Nielsen Mobile Performance, which showed the carrier’s network providing faster download speeds compared with Verizon Wireless, AT&T Mobility and T-Mobile US. The testing was conducted during the last three months of 2015, with a claimed 75 million download events from devices representing more than 270 million potential customers covered. Sprint claims its LTE network covers approximately 270 million pops, while its larger rivals all now claim more than 300 million pops covered by their respective LTE networks.
Sprint CTO John Saw argued that unlike network testing from other firms, which happen to claim superior network performance from Sprint rivals, the Nielsen testing “uses crowd-sourced data to measure actual network performance and the real customer experience.”
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