Sprint Reaffirms LTE Buildout Schedule

Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S, news, filings) seems to be eager to get started with their LTE buildout, and I don’t blame them. Much of 2011 has been spent wringing hands (theirs and others) over their future plans and their competitive position if the AT&T/T-Mobile deal were to come to pass. Today the company reaffirmed its aggressive LTE buildout schedule, as part of its Network Vision initiative.  They hope to quickly make up lost ground and get down to business.

Sprint plans to offer LTE devices by summer and to complete the majority of its LTE rollout in 2013, and will give more details next quarter. They have already finished lab testing the components and launched their first multi-modal base station and the first cluster of cell sites.

No doubt we will also hear from clwr soon about its 2012 buildout plans, now that it has made peace with its majority owner and raised the cash it needs to add LTE to its network. The two companies will surely be coordinating their buildout plans for maximum effect.  The wildcard though is LightSquared, which is still spinning its wheels with regulators over GPS.  Will their LTE buildout even happen?

 

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Categories: Wireless