Mississippi-based C Spire said it expects to complete addition of 700 MHz and 850 MHz spectrum to current LTE network in July.
Regional wireless operator C Spire said it was adding low-band spectrum to more than 900 cell sites in an attempt to broaden the reach of its LTE network across portions of Mississippi.
The carrier, which is currently the nation’s No. 6 operator in terms of customer base, said it was adding spectrum in the 700 MHz and 850 MHz band to the sites as part of a “multimillion dollar project” slated to be completed in July. The enhancements are set to expand C Spire’s coverage to more than 36,000 square miles.
C Spire also said it had begun deploying “new technology” using software to combine spectrum channels at 175 additional cell sites in a move expected to boost capacity and spike data speeds up to 50%. Such carrier aggregation enhancements have become common among operators taking advantage of LTE-Advanced technologies.
C Spire initially announced the spectrum enhancement plans last year, which included adding support to more than 500 existing sites over a nine-month period. Those plans came on the heels of the carrier doubling spectrum support at 604 of its 681 LTE sites across Mississippi over the previous year, moving to “boost power” on 397 cell sites and expanded LTE coverage to 115 new cell sites. Those efforts resulted in a claimed 71% improvement in average mobile broadband speeds.
C Spire initially launched its LTE network using spectrum in the 1.9 GHz bands back in 2012. The carrier had initially planned to use its 700 MHz spectrum A-Block for the network, but challenges in gaining access to equipment to support that band forced the carrier to alter the blueprint and instead rollout services using its 1.9 GHz spectrum holdings.
C Spire noted the 1.9 GHz band, known to equipment makers as Band Class 25, was already supported by an ecosystem thanks to Sprint’s decision to rollout its LTE network using its G-Band, 1.9 GHz spectrum. C Spire subsequently signed a LTE roaming deal with Sprint covering the 1.9 GHz band.
The 700 MHz challenges have subsided as more operators have begun to roll out LTE services using A-Block spectrum, with a strong push from T-Mobile US, which recently claimed its LTE network included 700 MHz spectrum covering more than 250 million potential customers.
C Spire is also working on “5G” technology trials using spectrum in the 28 GHz band with vendor partner Nokia, with early testing hitting network speeds up to 2.2 gigabits per second.
Bored? Why not follow me on Twitter.
