Sprint lights up 11 new LTE cities, now at 43 total

How many towers do small markets versus large markets require?

I think we're using the term "markets" a bit loosely considering the size of many of these listed (and I grew up in a small place, so I'm not bashing small towns):
McPherson, Kan.
Newnan, Ga.
Peabody, Mass.
Rome, Ga.
Salina, Kan.
Sedalia, Mo. Really knocking out some big ones there, Sprint. Honestly, how many people in these towns even have LTE equipped phones? I'd take a wild guess and say the percentage is pretty low. Here's hoping I'll start seeing at least a few more places I travel for business on the list (and actually getting LTE use when I get there).

Not necessarily. Harrisburg gets LTE before Philly, yet Sacramento hasn't even started to upgrade but SF and LA are live...

Uh no...LA is not live yet! That's why I left Sprint's sorry ass in the dust! GOOD RIDDANCE TO RUBBISH!

It makes sense that they are focusing on smaller markets first especially considering CLEAR is focusing on the bigger areas with their build out. It would be a lil redundant for Sprint to focus on bigger areas

That kind of makes sense I think. I looked at the list of the cities that were going to be getting it and noticed that my area was on the list. I would consider us a small area compared to Orlando or Tampa. But, in doing the Lakeland/Winter Haven areas, it would allow for a near complete transition between the two major metropolitan areas.

LMAO

"it's funny" - said by the person who has obviously never been to Harrisburg. anything outside of about 50 miles west of Philadelphia in the state of PA is basically Alabama.

Philadelphia is on the next round. HBG is maintained by a different company that does most of the other Sprint stuff, that is why we get it (and wimax) first. Check out the app sensorly to see where you have LTE

Same thing im thinkin smh, thats crazy lol

yeah the worse marketing scheme ever how would they do Hershey pa first?? Philadelphia is the 4th largest city in the u.s And LTE is needed more on in the city half of those rural areas in PA Don't Use Smartphones Smh!! Sprint Need to Stop Promising if they cant light up on time step y'all game up sprint!!! Be competitive And Not Dumb and Slow!!

Wait, Muncie and Anderson, Indiana, but not Indianapolis?

Indy has been lit up for a while.

LTE? I don't see it on the list above. Nor do their coverage maps indicate anything beyond 3G.

Take a look on Sensorly which is as close to realtime as you will get. http://www.sensorly.com/map/4G/US/USA/Sprint/lte_310sprint#q=indianapoli...

I've been getting LTE since about October on the east and south side of Indy mainly 465 east and and as much as 32 down around the Southport/Greenwood area but its intermittent. Some days I get a signal some days I don't. I'm mostly able to pick up a signal around the weekend.

LTE has been on in hagerstown for over a month and a half

What, Sprint, no west coast love? Yeah, yeah, you'll get to it...

Sprint has live towers in SF and LA. Takes time to upgrade 100's of cell towers. This wont be done over night.

Yep, LA has been lit for a month or so now. Just not announced as they haven't reached the % they want to make the announcement.

I've gone into the areas in LA that sensorly indicated LTE would be working. NO, LA IS NOT LIT UP YET. The towers are only turned on certain hours of the day and you will not get LTE in those areas unless the towers are turned on. Sprint can chalk up another po-dunk town on their list in order to pad their LTE numbers. Their service is atrocious and I'm not regretting leaving their dial-up data speed behind!

Strange, each time I've been in the city it's been lit up for me. I must be pretty lucky then. Might have to pay the lotto more often.

Have 4G coverage in my area but still cant seem to get 4G on my phone most of the time. Seems pretty spotty and the supposed upgraded 3G towers in my area dont seem like much of an improvement....Maybe time to switch carriers before my grace period is up. I'm not paying the $10 extra 'premium data' fee if Im the advantages from it are slim to none.

Do happen to have an EVO LTE? If so, then you might want to think about switching to a Galaxy S3, Note 2, or Optimus G... The EVO has serious LTE connectivity issues.

... or use the friendly airplane toggle to kick the LTE into gear. Not ideal, but it works.

Actually just got the Optimus G....Will try the airplane mode, thanks!

Hoping they get St. Louis scheduled soon if they want USCellular customers to switch over to Sprint after the sale goes through.

Parts of Charlotte have unofficially launched. But they are still turning it on and off at various times.

Listen very carefully Sprint. I'll speak slowly and enunciate. SAN FRANCISCO SAN JOSE SILICON F***ING VALLEY

They are already there. Just have to let them finish building out more.

Nothing in Connecticut still. I don't really care about LTE, but it would be nice to see what the fuss is all about. Maybe I'll care then? lol

They keep deploying in tiny markets that do not require many towers just to say we are in XX markets. They keep skipping the big cities cause its 50X the work and it is only one market they can claim.

I think it is easier to get all the permits in smaller areas and with testing it is better to interrupt fewer people than more until you have it all figured out.

I have given up on any hope that LTE will show up in the Rocky Mountain area. If you have Sprint, don't come skiing this year in the mountains. If you do, find another 4G LTE carrier.

Was in Gary, IN this weekend and very little 4G was found only in the surrounding areas

So they got all of Kansas lit up but seem to be avoiding many major cities. LA, New York, Philly, Denver, San Fran? Great strategy Sprint. And yes, I do know they are HQ'd in Kansas City.

They have part of LA, NYC, and San Fran lit up. Just haven't announced anything yet. look at this www.sensorly.com select sprint 4g

that is wimax not LTE, hes asking about LTE exclusively.

Sensorly will show you just LTE

select sprint 4g not sprint wimax

Also, it appears they may be working on Denver or just outside of Denver. If you call up the map on Sensorly and search for Denver Colorado then look down next to the Centennial Airport, you'll see a small section of LTE lit up or was lit up. http://www.sensorly.com/map/4G/US/USA/Sprint/lte_310sprint#q=Centennial,...

@Chad783 - I agree, my brother bought his SIII on Verizon after being with sprint for a while and he has never been happier. I might just buy out of my contract with sprint as an Xmas gift to myself then move to Verizon. He has phenomenal LTE all over the greater Denver metro area and then some. Having this SIII on sprints awful 3G network is like having a Ferrari with unlimited gas.... but you have to sip the fuel through one of those tiny straws that comes in a cheap cup of coffee.

People: small towns require only a few towers to be upgraded while large cities take 100's. They are not skipping large cities. Most large cities have active LTE towers now, it takes longer to light up big cities. Plus all of the regulation BS large cities require Sprint to go through. You guys should know this. If someone mentioned Verizon, they have a year head start on Sprint.

I wish that Ohio could get as much attention from Sprint as we do from candidates during the presidential election. Why can't being a "swing state" ever get us anything that's actually GOOD. No, we get non-stop political adds and crap service from national companies. Thanks so much.

how far does LTE extend? i was told that the hershey market would cover wilkes-barre pa. will i be getting LTE or am i SOL?

http://s4gru.com/index.php?/index

Gee, no Detroit? Can't wait for my Nexus 4 to arrive so I can get the hell off of Trudge's craptastic wireless dial-up network. "The NOW Network"? HA! More like "The Eventually, What's Your Rush Network"!

I wish switching were an option for me. I use WAY too much data to go to Verizon or AT&T.

How much data are you using and what are you doing? Granted, it's mostly because it's slooooooooooooooooooow, but I never seem to go over 2 GB per month because I try to hop on wi-fi everywhere I can. I'm set up for home, my g/f's, and the bar I'm usually at. I don't stream Netflix and don't download Spotify tracks because I could make friends with the band and have them play in my basement before it'd download on Trudge, but even if/when I have proper speeds, I don't see much more usage in my future. I'm just sick of waiting 1-2 minutes for web pages to load.

The shitty speeds on Sprint around here have me tempted to switch to T-Mobile where I can still get unlimited data. I'm just not sure if I'll be any happier on their network. I had 4G WIMAX downtown for a while last year, then they unplugged that. :(

I just switched to AT&T on black Friday. Bought the GS3 from Wal-Mart for 128 with a 100 gift card. Could not be happier with full 4G here in San Diego California. I've waited far too long for Sprints broken promises. Sprint lost a long time customer.

You've made the right choice, sir! I did the same a month ago. I'm all over LA County and the IE. The HSPA+ (4G) is 4 times faster than the 3G speeds Sprint was giving me. When I am in an LTE area (large chunk of LA county)...ZOOOOOM!

I was unaware that Sprint promised to light up San Diego LTE anytime before the end of 2013 (when their LTE rollout is supposed to be complete).

Sprint sucks. Its taking them forever to kick this BS off and we all knew LTE was "IT" years ago. Hell Verizon does more markets than this in their sleep. Its taking forever just for Sprint to get a couple. So glad I'm paying that extra 10$ a month to use my super phone on a terrible 3G network.

Then switch to Verizon and whining.

You echoed my feelings exactly. Why is Sprint so slow? Is there a list of Sprint LTE rollout schedule anywhere? I'm so pissed to know that my area can be important enough for politicians to visit multiple times a week, but Sprint can't get us LTE here. Every other carrier has LTE coverage here even though Sprint carries the majority of commercial mobile business here.

http://s4gru.com/index.php?/index

Thank you!! I'm amazed that I have never heard of that site. It has some great information. It also shows me that my area is about to go hot soon (i.e. 1st qtr 2013). I am happy about that. I'm tired of driving by the new 4G tower under "testing" for the past 1.5 years. I also noticed that I was picking up other unannounced Sprint 4G areas on my trip today. I guess they are "testing" the surrounding areas too.

And still no Boston, just small cities around. *smh* Lol, I can't wait to cut Sprint, they are really a sad excuse for a major carrier. This is what happens when you outsource your network team to another company...

Hmm, no Florida yet ( Deerfield Beach / South Floria ) (( Jedi )) patience is needed ... LoL

I know for sure that Oakland fremont area in California has launched. I believe sprint also said san mateo area.

I'm still trying to figure out how the nations capital aka Washington,DC (for the slow folks) still doesn't have LTE. Neither does northern VA. With that being said I have noticed a spike in 3G speeds.

http://www.sensorly.com/map/4G/US/USA/Sprint/lte_310sprint#q=washington d.c. it's coming

Looking at this map it shows that Bronx NY has it running. It might be the starting point and testing grounds for it. I am In mount Vernon so i may have to take a trip there to see if it works.

I'm by the Dulles Airport, and I left Sprint last month. T-Mob unlimited 4G, text and phone for $69. there's no $10 data charge like with sprint. I couldn't be happier. I'm consistently getting 15-25 Mbps on HSPA+42 and battery life is awesome. T-Mob is launching LTE next year, and when that happens, the speed will be even higher. But check out Sprint's comparison chart at sprint.com/4g. Their LTE will peak at 25 Mbps. That's not impressive when you compare it to the competition.

Sigh.....waiting for Honolulu,Hawaii to get LTE.....

you and me both bro, lol, im out of contract now and wouldve upgraded by now if not for all this lte uncertainty...

Can you guys sort the list by State instead of by Cities? It'll make things easier to find that way. Thanks!

http://s4gru.com/index.php?/forum/39-markets/ this is your best place for info.. People are fast to kick Sprint. But they truly are building a new network. Verizon and Att are just adding to what they have now. When they reach capacity on what they have now, they will have to add all new equipment. Then we will see the true bit$%ing begin.

LTE in Hagerstown and in Baltimore... Frederick is in the middle and I am still stuck on piss poor 3G speeds that cant stream music without skipping. Blah

Where is San Diego..

In case you haven't realized it yet sprint service is a joke. The only reason its unlimited is because they know you would die of aging if you tried to DL more than 3 gigs in a month. I've gone prepaid on NY nexus 4 and the hspa+ plan on tmob ($30) screams compared to that sprint crap. I'm going to assume that the LTE will be just like wimax and sprint 3g, spotty, constant antenna switching, and not working at all when you are more than 3 feet in a building. Basically useless.

Well I can say is that I was in Hagerstown visiting some friends and the LTE was STRONG for sprint. I had full signal and a consistent 7mbps down and up in their house. I streamed movies from the google play account and freely skipped in the HD movie with no lag or hiccup...

smh.. People always kick Sprint for trying there best and not having patients. If there service never worked for you then you never should have gotten them. Virgin and Boost uses Sprints network so if any one wants to try them out they should use those companies to test out the service. Radio issues aside, if the phone works it works. They don't claim to be the fastest just unlimited. Been with Sprint since 96 and don't plan leaving anytime soon.

There's a huge difference between not being the fastest and being the slowest. The only reason Trudge is so cheap and unlimited is that they couldn't charge what the competition does with such terrible performance, so they pretty much have to compete on price and all the dial-up speed you wish to waste irreplaceable time waiting for. It's the same reason Verizon can gouge so much for their service while being total unvarnished evil with how they gack up their phones; they've got a huge fast network that people are willing to bend over and cough to be on.

I can't speak for anywhere else but in St. Joseph, MO I'm connected to 4G close to 100% of the time. And that's all around town, inside and outside.

Why no love for Michigan? WV gets LTE before Detroit? I've been with Sprint for a long time and Have NEVER had 4G anywhere I've lived. That's San Diego, CA and Detroit, MI. I still pay that extra $10 a month for it. I know it's a "Premium Data" charge but I've never had premium data. It started as a 4G data charge until everyone complained about paying it and they applied it to everyone. Verizon did it right by launching in the NFL cities. At least they had all the major area covered.

NFL lol I like BaseBall so they should have started in NY first since we won the most Champion Chips lol. I think they stopped biulding out WiMax to make the switch to LTE. Can't fault them for trying something out to see if WiMax would take off but they do need to kick it into overtime to catch up.

Hahahahahahaha good one! Thats how they should of started it! Go Yanks!! if ur a mets fan.. u suck btw

That's Right Go Yanks baby!!

Champion Chips or Championships??? (just wondering)

If the 43 cities were in the same state, maybe they could call this a network.

For the love of god, Phil, would you PLEASE find a better Sprint photo to use??? That one is just awful and has been every time it is posted on Android Central. Is this intentional to try and make Sprint look bad?

lol, I think its the most accurate picture he could have chosen.

Dan Hesse looks as worn out, tired, exhausted and "over it" as I am with Sprint's "Vision" progress. He should quit just like I did. He'll feel much better. I know I sure do!

Man, no love for the mitten state, Michigan, that is.

http://newsroom.sprint.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=2382&view_id=8028

There is LTE in nyc.. when i first started to look there was only a little bit in the bronx and now theres alot more coverage on the map than before.. before there was only a small patch.. theres more lte coverage than there is in manhattan.. thats great for me because i live in the bronx but i just find it weird being that manhattan is a busier place still havnt gotten the signal yet.. but i do live right next to a sprint cell tower fingers crossed hoping to see a signal soon!! :D

Goldsboro,Nc Goldsboro,NC Goldsboro,NC Goldsboro,NC Goldsboro,NC Goldsboro,NC

I tired giving Sprint the benefit of the doubt but the ETA for LTE launching in the LA area came and went. When I was at the ATT store and calling Sprint to tell them I was leaving, a customer service manager came on the line and offered to take off $25 off my bill for the next 2 months (not sure if this was an indicator of how much longer it was going to take or something to keep me stringing along). I kindly declined. Speak with your wallets! I paid the ETF by selling my EVO 4GLTE on ebay! No problem! I may be paying an extra $7/mo with ATT but guess what? I'm enjoying LTE all over the LA area!!! The unlimited data argument is futile. It's smoke and mirrors...a marketing ploy. $10 "premium data fee" my ass!

Left sprint yesterday for At&t and I know its only been a day but god what a difference. 50-55 Mbps dwn on lte compared to 200-500 kbps on sprint.

And for that reason, along with having a super slow motion 3G Internet connection I've left Sprint after 11 years and am now "over the moon" with my T-Mobile 4G services. Sprint would be better off setting expectations for 4G LTE roll-out by socializing actual dates instead of being so intentionally vague as to say, "coming soon". It looses it's meaning after so many months. They've been coming soon to DC since June. That's NOT soon to consumers.

OK, I have to put my 2 cents in here. I'm friends with a guy who actually is installing Sprint's hardware/upgrades on their towers. We've talked a ton about what's going on with the LTE upgrades (since I noticed the service was turned on where I live...by the way, it's awesome)...So here's some non BS 2nd hand information for you. Basically Sprint is tackling two scenarios in it's LTE system. Upgrade A - Network Vision (NV) Plan: They're overhauling all the equipment in the tower installing new CDMA and LTE improvements with the built in capacity to expand into the future. These upgrades take the longest as it involves the most labor. They also take a lot of time because there is a completely new set of equipment that needs to be onsite before they'll start work. If it isn't ready, they won't do the upgrade. Many times the hardware isn't ready/available yet. This is what is happening in Major Markets FIRST since ALL the equipment needs upgraded due to the demands on the system. Upgrade B - LTE Hotspots: This is why some of the smaller markets are seeing activation prior to your major markets. It's also why they're happening faster than big cities (besides the # of towers it takes to cover the market). What is happening is that even though these smaller market towers aren't scheduled for NV yet, the LTE equipment is already available for that location and onsite (or close by). Sprint is having it set up as an LTE hotspot. From what they explained, the LTE radios are not "networked" together like Sprints CDMA service where it passes a call from tower to tower as the mobile device travels around. There is still other NV upgrades to come (a year or 2 away) but since the LTE radios were available for those locations they set them up. When NV happens, they'll be reintegrated into the NV setup fully. Lastly, next year the NV push will happen at an even more accelerated rate. Given the rest of the conversations my friend and I have had I translated this to mean, "Next year we'll finally start to see the equipment we need available in the quantities we need to light up a lot more of the major markets".

And to add on to this. The LTE work that is being done along the I81 corridor, is being done by a Sprint affiliate by the name of ShenTel which controls that part of the network. From Harrisonburg, Va to Harrisburg, Pa is all shentel going east to York and Gettysburg, and Hershey and a few others.

Wow, they lit up my super tiny college town, Harrisonburg, VA, and still haven't lit up any area near where I am now which is near Washington, DC...just you know, the capital of our entire country.

That's because they have a fully functional WiMax system, which most of us never even got.

i understand the people complaining about the slow speeds.. honestly my 3g speeds are average to sometimes good.. thats why i dont complain on my og evo only time i used my "4g" was when i tried to load a youtube video and i always had a good signal.. with lte for me its like a double edged sword because yea the speed might be great but the battery life will be terrible.. my wifi signal is great so i use that all day.. i am content with sprint and how it is only reason i feel that sprint is having speed issues is trying to accomadate for the iphone but thats just my opinion

Go Sprint!! :-) Hurry up! :-(

Wow you notice texas is getting all of the love?? what's up with New York,Fla,and Cali?? Geez hurry it up Sprint!!

We are going to break away from the Union. I will run for Texas office next year.

good luck to sprint. i gave them all i could waiting on upgrades in the Raleigh market. I've moved on to the nexus 4 and prepaid on straight talk ATT sim is as fast as any Wimax i ever got on sprint and i have it everywhere i go including inside buildings lol.

and not Fort Wayne.,,,they keep saying coming soon. in the meantime I cant even get internet in their parking lot

FU Sprint, LA? no... I've seen some 4G in LA but unusable, you drive one block and it's gone...

Hey Sprint, how about getting 4G to actually WORK in the existing cities first! I'm in Houston and the coverage is terrible, not to mention the 3G also sucks.

I've live in Philadelphia PA and waiting for LTE is right up there with watching paint dry and waiting for water to boil. I keep hearing it's coming soon and soon is not soon enough. ANYTHING I attempt to connect to on 3G says "no connection!" As far as Salina KS getting it before we do. I don't mean to sound like a hater but there's about 5 people who live in Salina. I've spent a LOT of time there. Cross a street and you're in and out; that's how small it is. I seriously doubt they're clamoring for LTE. Years ago they could barely get 3G and most I know left Sprint forever ago.

There is 4G in every direction from oklahoma, is the states and townships places where you members of board of directors are located? I think that I will get 4G in okc by sprint when the next great format of communication arrives in the market.

Baltimore, MD...oh yeahhhhhh! :D Too bad I'm still on an Epic 4G Touch though :(