Sprint starts using Nextel and Clearwire spectrum right away
While Sprint has gotten a lot of flack lately, its saving grace is probably a combination of the cash that Softbank is throwing at it, along with its abundant spectrum holdings. And already, just days after Sprint finished its acquisition of Clearwire, we have found out that Sprint is already using Clearwire’s old spectrum to continue its LTE rollout.
In an announcement earlier today, Sprint announced that it is quickly integrating Clearwire’s 2.5GHz spectrum into its existing 1900MHz LTE network, as early as this week. Additionally, Sprint said it is moving to integrate Nextel’s old 800MHz spectrum later this year.
With LTE offered across these three different spectrums, Sprint very well might have just the right combination of building penetration and dense coverage to hit the sweet spot with customers. Unfortunately, though, no current Sprint phones are compatible with the tri-band LTE network that Sprint is working on – current phones like the HTC EVO 4G LTE or the HTC One only utilize Sprint’s 1900MHz LTE. Instead, the only the NETGEAR Zing Mobile Hotspot and NETGEAR USB Modem – both of which will be released on July 19 – will be compatible for the foreseeable future.
In any case, are you excited for tri-band LTE? What have your LTE experiences been like on Sprint?
[Sprint]
