T-Mobile US announced that it's started deploying the spectrum in the 600 MHz band acquired earlier this year on its LTE network, claiming a world first for 4G services in the frequency band. The company said the first sites were switched on in Cheyenne, Wyoming using Nokia equipment.
The roll-out starts in rural areas where there is no interference for broadcasters using adjacent frequencies. T-Mobile said it plans to complete the deployment at "record-shattering pace", within six months compared to a normal schedule from auction to consumer availability of two years.
This year, additional 600 MHz sites are slated for locations including Wyoming, Northwest Oregon, West Texas, Southwest Kansas, the Oklahoma panhandle, Western North Dakota, Maine, Coastal North Carolina, Central Pennsylvania, Central Virginia and Eastern Washington.
The new spectrum will help the company, which has traditionally focused on covering urban areas, increase its LTE coverage to 321 million Americans, compared to 315 million today. The low-band frequencies will also help improve indoor coverage.
Customers will need to have compatible phones to use the new spectrum band, and T-Mobile is working with Nokia, Qualcomm, Samsung and LG to bring devices to market. Samsung and LG plan to launch phones that tap into this new spectrum in Q4.
