Samsung has announced at Mobile World Congress this week that it is supplying its 5G new radio solutions for US operator Sprint's 5G new radio solutions.
Sprint is deploying Samsung's 5G NR solution, which combines Samsung's existing Massive MIMO technology with new software and a new channel card, in one of its first 5G cities, Chicago.
The operator plans to launch its 5G network in Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas and Kansas City in May as part of a nationwide launch, and plans to go live in five more cities in the first half of 2019.
Sprint has been using Samsung's Massive MIMO technology in its 2.5-GHz TD-LTE network since 2018. The modular nature of the upgrade will allow Sprint to offer both LTE and 5G services on the same radio using the split-mode capabilities of the MIMO solution.
“Our collaboration on massive MIMO has delivered significant LTE capacity and speed enhancements,” Sprint SVP of network deployment and operations Scott Santi said.
“With 5G, we look forward to giving Sprint customers even greater experiences from gaming and entertainment services, to IoT and business applications.”
Samsung is showcasing its 2.5-GHz 64-transmit 64-receive Massive MIMO unit at its Mobile World Congress booth in Barcelona.