After unleashing a blistering blog post on Monday, T-Mobile CTO Neville Ray took to Twitter to slam the competition again and reiterate what the Un-carrier is doing right. In the process, Ray dropped a few more hints about T-Mobile’s network progress.
Here’s the rundown of highlights:
- T-Mobile currently covers 315 million people with its LTE network, but has its sights set on expanding that figure to 321 million by the end of this year.
- Ray added T-Mobile is “effectively done” with its 700 MHz rollout. Ray said T-Mobile has already deployed its extended range LTE to cover 271 million people – that’s out of a licensed opportunity of 272 million, he said.
- Ray said T-Mobile is moving straight into its 600 MHz deployments, with initial site launches starting as soon as next month. More on T-Mobile’s 600 MHz plans here and here.
- Ray revealed LG will join Samsung as one of the first vendors to launch a 600 MHz phone. Devices from those two companies will be out by the end of this year. Ray said he couldn’t comment on Apple’s plans regarding 600 MHz compatibility in the upcoming iPhone, but noted T-Mobile is in contact with the company and “pushing very hard” to make sure the band is included.
- Ray said T-Mobile is still pushing hard on LTE-U and LAA. The goal, he said, is that every small cell pushed out in 2017 will leverage 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum. The Un-carrier has previously announced LTE-U deployments in six cities, and recently hit more than 740 Mbps in LAA field trials.
Ray’s entire message can be seen below:
Filed Under: Telecommunications (Spectrum)