T-Mobile has started operating its LTE network in the 600 MHz band. This super-premium low-band spectrum was won by them in the government broadcast incentive auction earlier this year. The announcement comes only two months after they received licenses for this spectrum for the FCC. T-Mobile’s first 600 MHz LTE network sites - the very first in the world - were just switched on in Cheyenne, Wyoming using Nokia equipment. Starting in rural America and other markets where the spectrum is clear of broadcasting today, T-Mobile plans to deploy the new super-spectrum at a super fast pace - compressing what would normally be a two-year process from auction to consumer availability into a short six months.
T-Mobile also shared additional details of its 600 MHz LTE network rollout. This year alone, additional 600 MHz sites are slated for locations including Wyoming, Northwest Oregon, West Texas, Southwest Kansas, the Oklahoma panhandle, Western North Dakota, Maine, Coastal North Carolina, Central Pennsylvania, Central Virginia and Eastern Washington. Those deployments and other network upgrades will help them increase total LTE coverage from 315 million Americans today to 321 million by year’s end.
While most carriers struggle under the weight of unlimited data demands from users on their crowded, congested networks, T-Mobile’s new low-band spectrum is wide-open road for customers once cleared. They will be able to give customers in America an even better experience.
To meet this aggressive timeline for getting this super-spectrum into customers’ hands, T-Mobile has been coordinating closely with the infrastructure providers, chipset makers and device manufacturers to bring 600 MHz LTE to customers at breakneck speed. Nokia and Qualcomm have launched new technology, and both Samsung and LG plan to launch phones that tap into this new spectrum in the fourth quarter of this year.
T-Mobile is also working closely with the FCC and broadcasters like PBS to clear the spectrum in record time, investing where necessary to preserve programming consumers care about while paving the way for new wireless coverage and competition for consumers.
T-Mobile has doubled its LTE coverage since 2015, and its newly acquired premium low-band spectrum will broaden its LTE footprint even further - and lay the foundation for the country’s first nationwide 5G network. The Un-carrier owns a whopping average of 31 MHz of 600 MHz spectrum licenses that can cover every single American across the nation with low-band spectrum that reaches twice as far and is four times better in buildings than mid-band.
