Sprint activated its first 5G commercial service in areas of Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, and Kansas City.
Sprint is using 64T64R (64 transmitters 64 receivers) 5G Massive MIMO radios from Ericsson in Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and Kansas City. These radios support split-mode, enabling Sprint to simultaneously deliver LTE Advanced and 5G NR service. Sprint's 5G Massive MIMO radios run on its 2.5 GHz mid-band spectrum, and they are deployed on Sprint's existing 4G cell sites, providing a nearly identical footprint for both 2.5 GHz LTE and 5G NR coverage.
Service is available using the LG V50 ThinQ 5G smartphone and the HTC 5G Hub.
A 5G Unlimited Premium plan -- with unlimited data, talk and text nationwide, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Twitch Prime, Tidal HiFi and 100 GB LTE mobile hotspot -- is priced at $80 per month with AutoPay for one line.
Sprint expects to launch 5G service in areas of Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, Phoenix and Washington, D.C.
Earlier this month, Sprint provided the following network update
- Sprint now has 2.5 GHz spectrum deployed on approximately 80 percent of its macro sites.
- Sprint currently has approximately 30,000 outdoor small cells deployed including both mini macros and strand mounts.
- Sprint has deployed approximately 1,500 Massive MIMO radios, which increase the speed and capacity of the LTE network and, with a software upgrade, will provide mobile 5G service in select cities in the coming weeks.
Sprint activates Samsung's massive MIMO
Samsung said its massive MIMO can provide a way for operators to inject new capacity into their network without having to purchase more spectrum or add new base stations. It is being used by Sprint to significantly boost LTE network speeds and capacity for millions of U.S. customers, while improving network efficiencies through advanced beam-forming. Additionally, this helps provide Sprint with a seamless upgrade path to 5G New Radio (NR), utilizing the carrier’s deep 2.5 GHz spectrum.“We are excited to see Samsung MIMO solutions in use on Sprint’s current LTE commercial network, which will help their customers experience the full benefits of network innovation,” said Lyle Nyffeler, Vice President, Networks Division, Samsung Electronics America. “Our MIMO solutions are engineered to maximize 4G networks today, while offering a graceful, seamless path to a 5G future.”
In February 2018, Sprint announced its selection of Samsung as a massive MIMO provider for their future 5G mobile network launch in the U.S..
