Sprint to help bring rural LTE partners into the 2.5 GHz ecosystem

Sprint will work with its rural LTE roaming partners to get them access to LTE devices and network infrastructure for the 2.5 GHz band. Technology alignment is a part of the agreements that Sprint announced with 12 operators in mid-June.

The 12 agreements, which included a previously announced deal with nTelos Wireless, cover about 34 million POPs in 23 states.

Sprint also inked deals with SouthernLINC Wireless, C Spire Wireless, Nex-Tech Wireless, Flat Wireless, SI Wireless, which does business as MobileNation, Inland Cellular, Illinois Valley Cellular, Carolina West Wireless, James Valley Telecommunications, Phoenix Wireless and VTel Wireless.

The Rural Roaming Preferred Program, which Sprint developed in conjunction with the Competitive Carriers Association, is intended to expand LTE roaming and was announced last March. As part of its deal with the CCA, Sprint will use the CCA's data hub and allow CCA members to ink reciprocal roaming agreements with Sprint.

Sprint's deal with VTel provides a window into how the deals will work. VTel is running an LTE-only network using the 700 MHz C Block, AWS and 2.5 GHz spectrum. Sprint's deployment of 2.5 GHz LTE, especially using its new 8T9R radio heads, is a key factor in how it plans to set itself apart from the competition. The radios, combined with carrier aggregation technology, are expected to provide significant speed boosts compared to Sprint's current LTE deployment. If Sprint can get rural LTE partners to deploy such technology, it will extend its LTE network footprint and increase the size of the device and network ecosystem for 2.5 GHz LTE in the US market, which could lower costs.