5G is now available in selected parts of Los Angeles, New York City, Phoenix, and Washington, DC.
Sprint has switched on its Nokia-built 5G mobile network in selected parts of Los Angeles, New York City, Phoenix, and Washington, DC. The company notes that around 1.7 million New Yorkers are covered by the network, alongside 1.2 million Angelenos. A further 740,000 Phoenix residents are able to receive 5G access, and around 520,000 Washington, DC denizens.
Sprint’s 5G service is now available in areas of nine markets. In May, Sprint launched 5G service in areas of Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth and Kansas City, following with Chicago in mid-July.
The company said it covers approximately 2,100 square miles, with approximately 11 million people expected to be covered in total across all nine market areas in the coming weeks. This a benefit of Sprint’s 2.5 GHz spectrum and the 5G Massive MIMO radios, which are deployed on Sprint’s existing 4G cell sites, providing what it says is a nearly identical footprint for both 2.5 GHz LTE and 5G NR coverage.
The operator currently offers support for three 5G devices: The Samsung Galaxy S10 5G, the LG V50 ThinQ, and the HTC 5G Hub hot spot. The company has also promised support for the upcoming Galaxy Note 10 Plus 5G as well as the just-announced OnePlus 7 Pro 5G.
Ookla® Speedtest Intelligence® data showed Sprint’s average 5G download speed of 203.8 Mbps is nearly 6X faster than Sprint’s average LTE download speed of 35.2 Mbps.
