Hasta La Gadget!

The EVO 3D runs on Sprint’s WiMax network. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Joining the likes of competitors AT&T and Verizon, Sprint will soon begin building its own 4G LTE network, essentially admitting its bet on the rival WiMax standard was a bust. The move, announced Friday, should provide Sprint subscribers with a greater choice of 4G devices in the future, since LTE has basically become the standard for 4G here in the U.S. and abroad.

Sprint, the nation’s third-largest carrier, plans to roll out its 4G LTE network on the 1900MHz spectrum by mid-2012, with complete build-out by the end of 2013. Sprint will begin launching up to 15 CDMA/LTE devices towards the middle of next year, but will also continue selling WiMax products through the end of that year. Sprint expects its 4G network to cover over 250 million people.

So far AT&T, Verizon, MetroPCS and LightSquared all currently utilize LTE technology in their 4G networks.

Sprint is calling the future-proofing of its network coverage “Network Vision.” “Our progress deploying Network Vision enables Sprint to extend and evolve our 4G leadership and to improve the experience for 3G customers,” Sprint CEO Dan Hesse said in a release.

Sprint was a key player in the 4G revolution. The company was the first to heavily invest in 4G and is also the majority shareholder in ClearWire, which has struggled to compete effectively with DSL and cable internet connections with its 4G WiMax network. Sprint began developing its fourth-generational network in 2008 and released one of the first 4G Android handsets, the HTC EVO, on its WiMax network in 2010.

At the time, the other major networks had not made commitments to either WiMax or LTE for their 4G networks. In March of that year, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse hinted at Sprint’s eventual move towards LTE, saying, “LTE will likely be the larger of the 4G standards.” In an effort to curb rumors that Sprint was going to switch to LTE, though, Hesse backtracked a few months later, saying, “Our 4G strategy is WiMAX, full stop!”

According to the International Telecommunications Union, WiMax is closer to 3G than what we refer to as 4G via LTE. The wireless broadband access industry developed WiMax, which is supported by the IEEE standards body, while LTE was developed by mobile companies. However, the speeds you can achieve with both types of networks are largely comparable.

“4G is a pure marketing term,” Gartner analyst Michael King says. “What T-Mobile calls 4G is essentially the same thing as AT&T’s 3G, from a technology standpoint.”

Verizon made a major push for 4G with its network infrastructure beginning in early 2011. AT&T began with a slight upgrade to HSPA+ for its “4G” network, but started rolling out its LTE network this summer in five major metropolitan areas.

T-Mobile still employs an HSPA+ network, which is largely considered “3.5G” rather than true 4G (more details can be found in Wired.com’s 4G explainer). So far, Verizon’s LTE network coverage and speeds have proven to consistently be the fastest among the nation’s four major carriers.

Beyond 2012, it is unclear if Sprint will continue to support both LTE and WiMax, or if the carrier will decide to just support LTE.

Sprint representative Kelly Schlageter said that “Sprint will continue to sell WiMAX devices with two-year contracts through 2012. We don’t have anything to announce beyond 2012 today.” For 3G, Sprint employs CDMA, and any part of the spectrum not used by iDEN is currently used for CDMA.

Clearwire, which Sprint has a 54 percent stake in, currently provides Sprint’s WiMax infrastructure. Some reports had indicated that Sprint might be trying to take over Clearwire, but today’s move makes it seem more likely that the relationship between the two companies may be strained. Sprint needs Clearwire’s support in order to roll out its LTE network.

Sprint does, however, have some help from another nationwide spectrum provider — LightSquared. The two signed a deal that gives Sprint access to its 1600 MHz LTE spectrum through 2015.

Sprint hasn’t been doing well revenue-wise since its merger with Nextel in 2005, and is making a big bet on the iPhone to help push it into profitability. Nextel’s old iDEN network has historically been a source of problems for Sprint, which could feasibly push legacy iDEN users off the 800 MHz frequency and use it instead for LTE, but this has not been confirmed.

The switch to LTE is expected to cost Sprint between $4 and $5 billion, though the investment could deliver over twice that in economic benefit to the company, if this bet pays off better than the money it put on WiMax did.

If you were holding out hope that Tuesday’s Apple announcement would be trumped by an exclusive iPhone 5 on Sprint, prepare to be disappointed. The company’s confirmed that no new handsets would be shown off at its Strategy Event today. Instead, the carrier is focusing on how it intends to bundle all of those separate radios — CDMA, LTE, WiMAX — into a future device line up. Emphasizing the need for an enhanced user experience over 4G technology marketing, the operator stressed a commitment to supporting existing WiMAX subs. Dual-mode CDMA / LTE products are set to launch in the middle of next year, with tablets, smartphones and modems across both the high-end and mid-range to be on offer. Motorola’s Sanjay Jha appeared in a taped segment to confirm his company’s involvement in the production of these 3G/4G products. Of course, Sprint plans to support current CDMA and WiMAX products, offering them for sale throughout 2012. As for Direct Connect, three of those Push-to-Talk handsets will hit the carrier in the last quarter of 2011, with additional devices planned for 2012.

Sprint’s LTE plans detailed: phones, tablets and modems coming by 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Oct 2011 11:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We knew more or less that an announcement of this sort was coming. Back in July, Dan Hesse had teased us face-to-face with the promise of a “great story this fall around 4G,” and now the time to tell that tale has arrived. At its strategy event today, Sprint finally went public with plans to “simplify its network” by converting its 1900MHz holdings and LightSquared’s 1600MHz spectrum (“pending FCC approval”) to LTE, an industry favorite. Helping the operator make that transition is the swath of 800MHz spectrum it reclaimed from the, now defunct, iDEN push-to-talk network — which had been a drain on the company’s resources. This spectrum, acquired from Nextel, will be phased out by mid-2013 and rolled into LTE. The company plans for a rapid deployment of this new 4G network, with the first LTE markets and handsets to hit in mid-2012, and the full rollout mostly completed by 2013. Current subscribers signed up for WiMAX plans won’t have to worry as their devices will continue to be supported throughout 2012.

Beginning tomorrow, Sprint’s consolidating its 4G LTE (including LightSquared), 3G and Direct Connect networks into one single architecture. All the major technical milestones, such as test calls and field integration, have cleared their hurdles and work on over 22,000 cell sites are currently in process. Samsung, Alcatel Lucent and Ericsson have partnered with Sprint to install multimode 3G and 4G base stations to handle the network’s future traffic, essential for deploying the multitude of frequencies required by hosted devices. Prospective iPhone 4S users on the network will be able to take advantage of better signal strength and improved voice service as Sprint intends to also offload the latter onto 800MHz.

Expect a steep “reduction in roaming costs” and deeper signal penetration throughout the operator’s expanding national footprint over the course of the next two years. Naturally, LTE speeds on this new network will be significantly improved over the currently in-use WiMAX, and a planned implementation of WiFi offloading should help to cut congestion by 20 percent. By the end of next year, Sprint aims to have a combined WiMAX/LTE population coverage of 176 million — with 123 million covered by LTE and 76 million overlapping both. When the network build-out is nearly complete in 2013, the company should have over 250 million blanketed in LTE, far outstripping the stagnant 120 million served by WiMAX.

Sprint converts its network to LTE, plans ‘aggressive rollout’ to be completed by 2013 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Oct 2011 09:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ready for the latest scoop of Android Ice Cream Sandwich future? A report over on BGR details specs for the next pure Google phone we’ve come to know and love as the Nexus Prime. Quoting a “trusted source,” the insider dish paints a familiar contoured picture of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy family member. The screen has been purportedly bumped to a 4.65-inch HD Super AMOLED display, and lurking just beneath its chassis should be a dual-core 1.2GHz TI OMAP 4460 processor. As for the rest, the supposed Verizon exclusive packs 1GB RAM, 32GB of storage, a 1,750mAh battery, 1.3 megapixel front-facing / 5 megapixel rear shooter capable of 1080p HD video, WiFi a/b/g/n, NFC and possible LTE / HSPA bands. So does this handset measure up to your (by now) impossibly high standards? We’ll soon find out if any of this pre-release gossip holds its water when we’re live at Unpacked next week.

Update: A new batch of rumored specs have surfaced over on GSM Arena, and these seem to be more in line with what we’d expect of a new Nexus. According to an anonymous Google employee, that 4.65-inch Super AMOLED HD display mentioned above is just about the only spec to make the final cut. The processor, however, is more likely to be a dual-core 1.5GHz Exynos (that’s right) with an accompanying dual-core PowerVR SGX543MP2 graphics chip. That rear facing camera? Try 8 megapixels with a newly beefed up sensor. The handset should also ship with a girthy 2,050mAh battery fully capable of juicing this apparent LTE / CDMA / GSM Android monster.

Samsung Galaxy Nexus specs leak, headed to Verizon as an exclusive? (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Oct 2011 16:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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They’re not keen on providing milk, and we’ve never found evidence to suggest that Verizon’s COWs are indeed happy COWs, but Big Red has welcomed a new arrival to its family: the company’s first LTE-equipped cell-on-wheels. Measuring in at 1,080 inches tall and weighing a stunning 24,000 pounds, the self-powered transmitter will begin rolling across Florida to handle demand spikes during major events and to serve as a backup communications solution for emergency response scenarios. Although just an infant, it’s capable of handling hundreds of simultaneous calls and data transmissions. Spoken like a thrilled papa, Verizon gushed, “We’re very proud of this new baby, and glowing about our 4G LTE services around the state.” You’ll find all the carrier’s cheers in the PR after the break.

Continue reading Verizon Wireless gives birth to first LTE COW in Florida, we’re still waiting for a celebratory cigar

Verizon Wireless gives birth to first LTE COW in Florida, we’re still waiting for a celebratory cigar originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Oct 2011 08:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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