Much like some of its peers, Sprint is also gearing up to launch its commercial 5G network in the United States next year. However, before it can do that, the company needs to put new infrastructure in place which will support the next-generation 5G network when it eventually launches. Sprint today announced that it’s going to roll out its 5G infrastructure in six cities across the United States this year.
It’s going to roll out “5G-like capabilities” to customers in Dallas, Chicago, and Los Angeles which include increases in data speed and capacity as Sprint rolls out its Massive MIMO technology. Sprint will later expand the technology to Houston, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C. later this year.
To be clear, it’s not switching on its 5G network this year, it’s merely putting the infrastructure in place which will be used for the commercial 5G network next year. The carrier says that its first 5G-ready Massive MIMO cell sites can deliver up to ten times the capacity of existing LTE systems while significantly increasing data speeds for more users in locations with high traffic.
Simply put, Massive MIMO or Multiple Input, Multiple Output technology enables multiple antennas to send data to a single access point. This brings faster data speeds to users without congestion. Sprint will complete this infrastructure roll out later this year and it plans to meet its commitment of launching its commercial 5G network in the United States in the first half of next year.