Bandwidth Matters: Sprint LTE Gets 6-8 Mbps at 1.9 GHz, 50-60 Mbps on 2.5 GHz Spectrum

Sprint expects to have Long Term Evolution 4G network coverage of about 100 million pops, using the 2.5-GHz former Clearwire spectrum (120 MHz in most major U.S. markets) by the end of 2014. That probabnly is less coverage than some observers had expected. 

But Sprint ought to be able to dramatically increase its LTE top speeds, once it activates the former Clearwire spectrum. 

In the 1.9 Ghz band, Sprint says it is seeing LTE provide 6 Mbps to 8 Mbps on a consistent basis. 

In areas where LTE now is avaialble on the 2.5 GHz band, Sprint is seeing 50 Mbps to 60 Mbps peak speeds. The difference is simply that Sprint can use bigger channels on the 2.5-GHz spectrum.

Parenthetically, Sprint majority owner SoftBank saw its revenue jump 44 percent in the most-recent quarter, suggesting SoftBank will have capital to fuel an expected Sprint assault in the U.S. market.