T-Mobile rolls out low-band LTE to hundreds more cell sites

T-Mobile CTO Neville Ray revealed today that T-Mo had added low-band LTE to hundreds of cell sites across the U.S. in the past two weeks. This expansion includes both 600MHz and 700MHz coverage. As with the other low-band and mid-band upgrades that T-Mobile has made in recent weeks.

T-Mobile has confirmed to me that this low-band LTE expansion is different than the one that Ray announced last week. One thing that is similar about this latest expansion, though, is that it includes a mix of 600MHz and 700MHz coverage.

T-Mobile has been actively involved in the deployment of new network technologies and additional spectrum to improve its LTE network. Aside from upgrading its cell sites with additional mid-band LTE spectrum, the network operator has also been deploying other low-band LTE frequencies on its base stations. The principal advantage of utilizing low-band spectrum for LTE is that it offers broader coverage and better indoor penetration compared to other frequencies, although lower LTE frequencies provide considerably lower data speeds. T-Mobile is also rolling out the 600MHz frequency across the United States, and the carrier is planning to utilize the spectrum not only for its 4G LTE network but also for its 5G network. T-Mobile’s 5G system is going to be available in 30 cities by the end of the year. Some of the cities where the carrier is expected first to deploy its 5G network include New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Dallas.

Source: https://www.tmonews.com/2018/03/t-mobile-low-band-lte-upgrades-hundreds-cell-sites/