Sprint may be far behind AT&T and Verizon Wireless in its nationwide LTE rollout, but it kicked off an expansion plan on Monday that will help it gain plenty of ground in the next few months. It added New Orleans, Miami and Tampa, Fla., and 19 other cities to its footprint in the first phase of a 120-market push this summer.
As with many of its recent expansions, Sprint’s latest rollout encompasses a handful of bigger cities and a bunch of smaller ones. Here’s the complete list of additional markets: Baton Rouge, La.; Centralia, Wash.; Clarksville, Tenn.; Corsicana, Texas; Dalton, Ga.; Dunn, N.C.; Fond du Lac, Wis.; Gainesville, Fla.; Henderson, N.C.; Kingsport, Tenn.; Lansing/East Lansing, Mich.; Longview, Wash.; Napa, Calif.; Palatka, Fla.; Raleigh, N.C.; Sebring, Fla.; St. Cloud, Minn.; St. Joseph/Benton Harbor, Mich.; and Warsaw, Ind.
Sprint’s LTE network is now in a total of 110 markets, though it hasn’t released any figures on the total population covered (it’s target is 200 million people by year end). It still has some noticeable metropolitan holes to fill, including New York City, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. Though none of those three has officially gone live, Sprint appears to be rapidly completing its Network Vision overhaul in those markets. Customers are already reporting LTE sightings in all three.
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