NEW ORLEANS – In a move that could jumpstart a fallow LTE roaming market, Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse told attendees at this week’s Competitive Carriers Association event that the carrier was instigating a move to bridge the gap between LTE service in the 1.9 GHz and lower 700 MHz bands.
Hesse said the carrier has begun to work on providing specifications that would allow for roaming between the carrier’s current LTE service running in the 1.9 GHz band and those of carriers that are looking to rollout LTE services in the 700 MHz, 850 MHz and 1.9 GHz bands. A Sprint Nextel spokesman added that the 700 MHz support would include the lower A-, B- and C-Bands, also known as Band Class 12. The move would seem to be good news to a number of rural carriers that have been unable to garner device or equipment support for their lower 700 MHz spectrum as well as allow Sprint Nextel to tap into potential coverage provided by rural carriers that can begin rolling out LTE services in those bands.
Hesse noted the carrier has recently conducted roaming LTE roaming trials with C Spire, and that it was working with other operators on similar trials.
“For those looking for broad-based, broadband to offer to customers, come talk to us,” Hesse said.
The data roaming issue has been a pet peeve of the CCA, which scored a significant victory in the 3G roaming data space in 2011, but has yet to see a similar move when it comes to LTE services. To this point, no operator offers domestic roaming across carriers for LTE services, though Verizon Wireless’ LTE in Rural America program does allow those carriers that rollout LTE services using Verizon Wireless’ upper 700 MHz spectrum to offer roaming services across networks.
Sprint Nextel noted that the plan was still in its infancy, but that it planned to begin working shortly with equipment providers and chip makers like Qualcomm on specifications that would allow roaming between its Band Class 25 and Band Class 12 networks in the lower 700 MHz band.
For more on LTE options for rural carriers, check out this recent RCR Wireless News report on the subject: LTE options for rural carriers.
Bored? Why not follow me on Twitter?
