T-Mobile 600 MHz extended range LTE now live in 900+ cities & towns, coming to Puerto Rico

Bellevue, Washington — June 6, 2018 — T-Mobile (NASDAQ: TMUS) is expanding its massive network buildout beyond the mainland. The Un-carrier today unveiled that it has now lit up 600 MHz Extended Range LTE in more than 900 cities and towns across 32 states, bringing T-Mobile LTE coverage into 120 places for the very first time. Now, T-Mobile will bring 600 MHz Extended Range LTE to Puerto Rico this fall, providing more LTE coverage and capacity than ever before and laying the foundation for 5G with 5G-ready equipment.

“After the devastating hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico last year, we saw an opportunity to rebuild the network better than new -- to rebuild with 5G-ready gear. We’re laying the foundation for the island to become a technology and innovation hub in the future while adding coverage and capacity with 600 MHz LTE this year,” said Neville Ray, Chief Technology Officer for T-Mobile. “The team is working at record pace to deploy 600 MHz LTE throughout the country, and we’re already expanding the network and challenging the Duopoly in places they’ve never had to compete before.”

“T-Mobile’s strong commitment to Puerto Rico goes beyond hurricane recovery,” said Jorge Martel, Vice President and General Manager of T-Mobile Puerto Rico. “We will continue to invest in the island’s future and in our network to expand and enhance LTE coverage.”

T-Mobile’s Extended Range LTE signals travel twice as far from the tower and are four times better in buildings than mid-band LTE, providing increased coverage and capacity. The Un-carrier has already deployed Extended Range LTE to more than 80 percent of Americans with 700 MHz (Band 12), and rapidly began deploying it with 600 MHz (Band 71) last year to expand coverage and capacity even further.

In April 2017, T-Mobile made its largest network investment ever, tripling its low-band spectrum holdings by purchasing 45% of the spectrum sold in the US government’s 600 MHz auction -- 31 MHz nationwide on average and a whopping 50 MHz in Puerto Rico! These holdings cover 100% of the US, including Puerto Rico. Immediately after receiving the licenses -- less than a year ago – T-Mobile began its rapid 600 MHz Extended Range LTE rollout. To accelerate the process of freeing up the spectrum for LTE, T-Mobile is working with broadcasters occupying 600 MHz spectrum to assist them in moving to new frequencies.

T-Mobile offers six 600 MHz-capable smartphones, with still over a dozen more across all price points expected to launch this year. Starting this month, the Un-carrier will also begin enabling carrier aggregation for 600 MHz Extended Range LTE and mid-band LTE, so customers with capable devices can access the capacity of both at the same time, increasing download speeds.

This content extract was originally sourced from an external website (T-Mobile USA Newsroom) and is the copyright of the external website owner. TelecomTV is not responsible for the content of external websites. Legal Notices

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