Sprint to Add up to 20,000 More Cell Sites

In a significant expansion move, Sprint plans to expand its LTE network by adding about 20,000 cell sites and repurposing existing sites. The said plans are expected to be even more extensive than those reported by Sprint blog S4GRU, according to which Sprint was supposedly planning to add 9,000 cell sites to its network.

Going by a source working closely with Sprint, the company will be growing the size of its network with up to 20,000 cell sites. However, the source also added that the number is not final yet and it can’t be predicted as to when the expansion will be completed. This same number and information have also been estimated by Analysts at New Street Research. Sprint upgraded roughly 38,000 of its network sites with multi-mode base stations as part of its Network Vision network modernization. The company also has 10,000 former Clearwire towers.

The telecom giant’s new network plan is expected to have a mix of dual-band and tri-band sites because in some rural markets, it might not deploy 2.5 GHz radios and antennas. It intends to densify its network through both macro cell sites and small cells. According to the source, Sprint plans to retain the former 10,000 Clearwire towers. Also, as many as 7,000 of those sites support TD-LTE as of now but do not have CDMA radios. According to the new plan, CDMA will also be added to some of these sites.  

When approached for more information in this regard, Sprint declined to comment. However, during the fourth-quarter earnings conference call of Sprint’s calendar, CEO Marcelo Claure had shared that the company is continuing to invest in its network infrastructure and across its spectrum portfolio, which includes 800 MHz, 1900 MHz and 2 5 GHz bands. The telecom operator also plans to use carrier assembly across all three of those bands.

To that end, the company would need to significantly densify its network by increasing the number of sites across all the spectrum bands. This will include macro and small cells that will be used to increase the coverage and capacity of the network. 

However, there are analysts who aren’t very confident in Sprint’s ability to execute the expansion plans as stated. How the company foresees such expansion and plans to execute it is for time to tell.