Sprint has taken their place as the 3rd largest carrier in the US to offer 4G LTE after turning on their service in 15 markets. The carrier started their 4G project well ahead of AT&T and Verizon in 2008 when they launched their WiMAX service and have been among the fastest networks in the US for internet connectivity. Sprint is now updating their network to 4G LTE so as to attract some of the customers of AT&T and Verizon.
Sprint 4G LTE coverage map now includes 15 markets
However they do have limited services and to begin with they will cover just a few of the areas. They will also fall short when it comes to performance and speed that AT&T and Verizon offer. At the moment Verizon are the leaders in the 4G LTE network market as they have the largest network.
In 2010 Verizon launched their 4G LTE network as the answer to the WiMAX of Sprint. Verizon could expand to even more parts of the US in a very short space of time. They have more than 200 million customers. AT&T entered into 4G LTE in 2011 but still the service of Verizon is better in terms of performance and cover.
Sprint has had to rethink their 4G which they launched in 2011. Their intention was to give LTE coverage that was ground based via satellite LTE, however this did not happen. The carrier is not able to offer advanced services and have rented the 4G service of Clearwire Corp to make use of the high speed service. With spectrum lack this may mean they will be fragile in the 4G LTE market.
Sprint does not have the same space on the airwaves as their competitors and this may hold their speeds back. Their two competitors on the other hand have advanced facilities with Verizon offering 4G in more than 300 markets, which equates to two thirds of the population of the US.
Sprint is well known for looking after customers with great offers and they do have plans to widen their LTE services to even more markets towards the year’s end. They also offer some good plans on their 4G LTE. At the moment they have 5 4G LTE phones including the Samsung Galaxy S3 and the HTC EVO LTE 4G which runs Android 4.0 and has a 4.7 inch HD display.
With all eyes on the iPhone 5 coming with 4G LTE later this year, here’s hoping Sprint can expand its 4G LTE coverage by more than the 15 markets already lit up.
[via]
