Sprint launches 5G mobile in four US cities, first expansions coming within weeks

Sprint on Thursday launched 5G mobile data in four U.S. urban areas, namely Atlanta, Houston, Kansas City, and Dallas-Fort Worth.

Chicago, Phoenix, Los Angeles, New York City, and Washington, D.C. are set to switch on "in the coming weeks," the carrier said. That will still leaving it offering 5G to no more than 11.5 million people.

As with 5G deployments by other U.S. carriers, even cities that do have access won't immediately get 4G-level coverage. While Atlanta for example will have 150 square miles of 5G extending from downtown to Dunwoody, only 565,000 people live in planned service areas — a fraction of the over 5.8 million in the broader Atlanta metro area.

To provide the new service Sprint is using "5G Massive MIMO" radios by Ericsson, installed on existing 4G cell sites.

"With Massive MIMO and our mid-band spectrum, Sprint customers will have a great experience that isn't limited to small pockets of millimeter wave 5G coverage," wrote Sprint CTO John Saw in an apparent dig at rivals. mmWave is the the fastest variant of 5G but inherently short-range, which will likely keep it out of rural areas where wireless internet is even more useful.

Apple isn't expected to build 5G Qualcomm modems into iPhones until 2020. That will leave 2019 iPhones lagging behind devices from Samsung and others, but 5G may actually be more practical by the time Apple catches up.

Sprint's first compatible devices include the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G, the LG V50 ThinQ,and the HTC 5G Hub. The Hub should work with existing iPhones and iPads, generating a Wi-Fi hotspot.

8 Comments

lkrupp 10521 comments · 19 Years

About 5 years ago

Until fixed wireless 5G is price competitive with cable modem, DSL, Satellite and/or fiber to the premises it won’t get all that popular. Mobile 5G is a solution in search of a problem. One simply does not need that kind of speed on a mobile device and data plans being what they are you will go bankrupt very quickly downloading movies and playing games on a 5G phone or tablet.

eightzero 3145 comments · 14 Years

lkrupp said:

Until fixed wireless 5G is price competitive with cable modem, DSL, Satellite and/or fiber to the premises it won’t get all that popular. Mobile 5G is a solution in search of a problem. One simply does not need that kind of speed on a mobile device and data plans being what they are you will go bankrupt very quickly downloading movies and playing games on a 5G phone or tablet.

This. I'd really like to try it as an alternative to my (admittedly stable and reasonably priced) cable modem at home. I understand though that 5G is sensitive to things like trees and weather, so I am skeptical. But with comparable performance, who wouldn't like a lower price?

apple ][ 9225 comments · 13 Years

Unless somebody has a truly unlimited plan, I don't see the point.

For the time being, cable internet at home using ethernet and WIFI, and LTE on my iPhone serves me just fine.

lorin schultz 2744 comments · 10 Years

AppleInsider said:
Apple isn't expected to build 5G Qualcomm modems into iPhones until 2020. That will leave 2019 iPhones lagging behind devices from Samsung and others, but 5G may actually be more practical by the time Apple catches up.

It’s fair to say 5G probably won’t be widespread in 2019, but that doesn’t mean there’s no downside to 2019 iPhones lacking that capability. People who buy phones in 2019 will keep them for two or three years, some even longer. If 5G becomes a must-have feature, next year’s iPhones will be obsolete much sooner than usual.

MplsP 4021 comments · 8 Years

AppleInsider said:

Chicago, Phoenix, Los Angeles, New York City, and Washington, D.C. are set to switch on "in the coming weeks," the carrier said. That will still leaving it offering 5G to no more than 11.5 million people.

As with 5G deployments by other U.S. carriers, even cities that do have access won't immediately get 4G-level coverage.

Well, it's sprint, so half its customers don't have 4G service anyways. They could just say they have 5G and people would just assume they weren't getting it because it's sprint!