Sprint and regional wireless operator Ntelos took care of a long-standing disagreement, announcing today an extension of their strategic network alliance through 2022. The two carriers had been working on a previously signed network arrangement that was set to expire next year.
As part of the extension, Ntelos will continue as Sprint’s exclusive network provider in Ntelos’ home markets across portions of Virginia and West Virginia, including Sprint customers having access to Ntelos’ recently launched LTE services. Ntelos will also gain access to Sprint’s 800 MHz, 1.9 GHz and 2.5 GHz spectrum across its footprint connected to using that spectrum to expand LTE services over the next three years as part of Sprint’s Network Vision and Spark program.
Unlike Network Vision, however, Ntelos noted that its upgrade program will not be a “rip and replace,” and that instead it will add multi-modal support to its current network. Ntelos’ initial LTE deployment taps into the carrier’s 1.9 GHz spectrum that also supports its CDMA-based offerings, but the carrier also has approximately 20 megahertz of 1.7/2.1 GHz spectrum that could eventually be used to support services. Ntelos CEO Jim Hyde noted that the carrier had attempted to pick up additional 1.9 GHz spectrum assets during the recently completed H-Block spectrum auction, but that Dish Network’s aggressive participation in eventually winning all of the licenses up for bid made those efforts difficult. Hyde added that following the Sprint agreement, Ntelos was not likely to participate in the upcoming AWS-3 spectrum auction.
The Sprint deal also removes concern about a potential Sprint “overbuild” of Ntelos’ markets, which surfaced last summer and caused Ntelos’ stock to plunge. Sprint and Ntelos last September also resolved a long-standing billing issue.
Ntelos noted that the most recent agreement with Sprint does not prevent it from other wholesale arrangements, which could include an ongoing fixed LTE trial with Dish. That deal, which used 2.5 GHz spectrum, was announced last June, and expanded late last year into a limited commercial launch of fixed wireless broadband services. Dish, for its part, attempted to acquire Sprint before being out-bid by Softbank.
The Ntelos deal looks to take advantage of Sprint’s recent push to attract rural carriers in helping it build out LTE coverage. At the recent Competitive Carriers Association event, Sprint Chairman Masayoshi Son took to the stage in offering financial assistance to rural carriers that worked with Sprint on expanding LTE services. That offer built on announcements also made at the show that included a partnership with CCA that will allow the association’s carrier members to tap into CCA’s Data Services Hub as a clearinghouse for reciprocal roaming agreements with Sprint. The carrier will also work with CCA to promote a device ecosystem that will include 700 MHz Band Class 12 support into devices that are also compatible with Sprint’s LTE and CDMA services across the 800 MHz and 1.9 GHz band.
Sprint also announced an “alliance” with NetAmerica dubbed the Small Market Alliance for Rural Transformation, which will provide CCA members with the ability to lease 800 MHz and 1.9 GHz spectrum from Sprint in markets where the carrier said it did not plan on launching LTE services. In gaining the spectrum resources, rural carriers would agree to build out LTE services compliant with Sprint’s Network Vision program and include a reciprocal roaming agreement. Carriers taking advantage of the Sprint spectrum will tap into network core services provided by Sprint and NetAmerica. NetAmerica said it expects to begin offering to program immediately to carriers, with deployments expected to begin later this year.
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