Sprint says 16 of the 30 companies who’ve agreed to participate in its Rural Roaming Preferred Provider program have launched their LTE networks.
The Rural Roaming Preferred Provider program is similar to Verizon Wireless’ LTE in Rural America initiative. Both programs lease spectrum to small, regional providers who build out coverage in their home market areas.
Under the terms of the agreement, the larger carriers’ customers can roam onto the regional LTE network and vice versa. The idea is to bring coverage to areas where the larger operators might not necessarily like to commit resources to build out their own network.
Sprint would not say which of its partners have launched their LTE networks. Some of the partners include SouthernLINC Wireless, nTelos Wireless, C Spire Wireless, Phoenix Wireless, Bluegrass Cellular, Pine Belt Wireless, Pioneer Cellular, and United Wireless.
“Our partners use a variety of LTE bands, including bands 4, 5, 12 and 25,” said Sprint’s Adrienne Norton. “We’re continuing to work with our device OEMs to enable additional LTE bands to expand coverage for our domestic and international roamers.”
Sprint’s LTE footprint covers about 280 million POPs. T-Mobile, which recently disclosed that it too has leased spectrum to regional operators, also covers about 280 million POPs. AT&T and Verizon Wireless both claim to cover about 308 million POPs.
