abc news 24: Sprint to utilize Clearwire 2.5GHz spectrum for LTE starting this week

Sprint

New higher frequency to support current 800 and 1900MHz network

Sprint has finally completed its acquisition of Clearwire, and the carrier has announced today that it is quickly integrating the new spectrum to its expanding LTE offerings. Adding to its primarily 1900MHz-based network, Sprint has recently added 800MHz spectrum from its iDEN network shutdown and is now adding in new 2.5GHz spectrum from Clearwire to help out further. The high frequency spectrum isn't super useful for building penetration, but Sprint plans to use it in densely populated cities to support the use of 800MHz, which excels at building penetration.

As is usually the case when adding new frequencies to a network, the first devices to take advantage of the network are MiFi's and data sticks. Sprint is announcing that the Netgear Zing Mobile Hotspot, Netgear 341U USB Stick and MiFi 500 LTE will be available starting July 19th and will support all three frequencies.

Edit: While the devices that can utilize this new spectrum are available soon, the new spectrum itself isn't -- and won't be ready for a while. Apologies for any confrusion.

Now that Sprint has nailed down a generally long-term frequency plan, we should start seeing other devices hitting the carrier with support for the additional bands in short order. The end result should be more consistent LTE service in more places for Sprint customers.

Source: Sprint; Via: FierceWireless