Sprint is said to be planning a major network expansion, adding over 9,000 new cell sites around the US to expand and bolster its 4G LTE and 3G CDMA coverage.
The expansion, first reported by the Sprint 4G Rollout Updates blog, appears to somewhat reverse Sprint's attempt to decrease the number of sites it ran under its "Network Vision" plan. Under that strategy it had decommissioned over 9,000 Nextel 800MHz sites. (See Sprint Sacrifices Clearwire WiMax in iDEN Demise.)
The goal of the update is to move into new markets, expand coverage in more suburban markets and add more in rural areas where a lot of roaming between networks takes place. Sprint is said to be locking down funding for the major network update.
pcharles09, User Rank: Light Beer 2/28/2015 | 5:11:26 PM
Re: Waiting to go Dark, then Spark! @SachinEE,
"...high roaming areas..."
I am glad to hear that. Contrary to alot of people's beliefs, New York City is one of those HRAs. Drives me crazy but hopefully there will be relief very soon!
SachinEE, User Rank: Light Sabre 2/28/2015 | 2:42:19 PM
Re: Waiting to go Dark, then Spark! The 9,000 sites will be broken down as follows: 1,100 decommissioned iDEN sites converted for CDMA/Long Term Evolution (LTE) coverage; 1,600 sites targeting high roaming areas; 800 new dual-band sites in new suburban areas with projected population growth; 500 new tri-band sites in urban and suburban areas to infill coverage; and 5,000 new urban and suburban Time Division-LTE (TD-LTE) 'Sprint Spark' sites.
SachinEE, User Rank: Light Sabre 2/28/2015 | 2:37:02 PM
Re: Waiting to go Dark, then Spark! They have got so much on their plate. In addition to this new expansion project, Sprint already has two existing projects under way for targeted regional expansion based on recent acquisition. In Missouri and Central Illinois, Sprint is working on Project Ocean, which involves adding more than 100 former US Cellular sites. Some of these sites are already online with many more coming online within the next six-to-eight months. The bulk of these ads are in suburban St. Louis. However, there are a couple dozen rural USCC sites that are also being captured in the Project Ocean programme.
TheRequiem, User Rank: Light Beer 2/26/2015 | 5:28:35 PM
Re: Waiting to go Dark, then Spark! That is why your only getting 7mbps - I have been using Sprint Spark and my average speeds are 30 - 50mbps pretty consistently.
jabailo, User Rank: Light Sabre 2/26/2015 | 1:31:18 PM
Re: Waiting to go Dark, then Spark!
Sprint Spark will make my day if Spark will:
1) Swap out for Clear Wimax 2) Cost about the same 3) Be unlimited data, no caps or throttling 4) Boost speeds significantly above my current 7Mbps 5) Serve mid-sized cities and remote suburban areas 6) Have a bundle with mobile phone service 7) Have a dongle for mobile laptop and tablet service
and finally, this is one that I don't think will happen but would really be great:
8) Reduce ping time from my current (lowest is around 59ms)
I think this might be inherent in wireless communication versus fiber...but who knows what they can do!
jabailo, User Rank: Light Sabre 2/25/2015 | 10:45:16 PM
Waiting to go Dark, then Spark! I am a holdout Wimax customer of Sprint's (nee Clear). I've always been more than happy with my Wimax service but keep worrying about the day they switch it off. I've asked several times and they've haven't given me a date yet for the switch but assured me that they'll be a conversion plan..to Spark I hope!
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