Sprint has announced Sprint Spark, a new high-speed service that will provide customers with data speeds of 50-60 Megabits per second (Mbps) peak speeds. The first tri-band capable smartphones will arrive on Nov. 8.
Consumers are using their smartphones more and more to access the Internet and use streaming and cloud services. Present and future services require more bandwidth and Sprint has taken the initiative to provide its customers with Sprint Spark. Sprint Spark uses enhanced 4G LTE technology to achieve unprecedented speeds by combining three bands of 4G LTE wireless spectrum available on Sprint's network.
"Sprint Spark is a combination of advanced capabilities, like 1x, 2x and 3x carrier aggregation for speed, 8T8R for coverage, MIMO for capacity, TDD for spectral efficiency, together with the most advanced devices offering both tri-band capability and high-definition voice for the best possible customer experience," said Dan Hesse, CEO of Sprint.
The carrier has announced that it will launch its first tri-band capable smartphones that will support Sprint Spark beginning on Nov. 8. The service will initially be available in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Tampa and Miami. Sprint plans on deploying the high-speed service in about 100 of America's largest cities over the next three years. Sprint expects the new service to improve bandwidth intensive applications and allow it to lay the foundation for future applications that will require even more speed.
Sprint will launch the Samsung Galaxy Mega and Samsung Galaxy S4 mini on Friday, Nov. 8. The smartphones will receive a software update shortly after launch to make the handsets tri-band enabled. The carrier will also launch the LG G2 on the same date and expects to release a software update in early 2014 to allow the smartphone to use the new Spark service. The carrier also confirmed previous rumors that it will launch the 5.9-inch HTC One Max phablet, but hasn't provided an exact date, only saying the smartphone is "coming soon."
The Samsung Galaxy Mega, Samsung Galaxy S4 mini, and LG G2 will be available on Nov. 8 for $199.99, $99.99, and $199.99, respectively, when signing a new 2-year contract.
