T-Mobile expands 5G network and gives LTE access to all Sprint customers

By Joe Wituschek
published

T-Mobile Neville Ray speaking at MWC
T-Mobile Neville Ray speaking at MWC (Image credit: T-Mobile)

What you need to know

  • T-Mobile and Sprint are starting to integrate their networks.
  • The company announced an immediate expansion of its 5G network after the merger.
  • Sprint customers also now have access to T-Mobile's LTE network.

The T-Mobile and Sprint merger was just recently approved, and the companies are taking no time in bringing the strengths of both of their networks together for all of its customers.

In a press release (opens in new tab) today, T-Mobile announced that it would be expanding its 5G network, bringing 5G support to more devices, and giving Sprint customers access to its LTE network.

Neville Ray, T-Mobile President of Technology, posted a video to the company's YouTube Channel saying that they are committed to continuing the buildout of 5G as it sees the technology as playing a critical role moving forward.

"Connectivity is more important than ever today, and the challenging time we're all facing shows just how critical 5G for All is ... While our amazing team safely works to keep people across the country connected to work, school and family, we aren't slowing down on building out the broad and deep network that only this combined company can deliver. We won't stop because this network can do so much GOOD across the country!"

The company announced that it is bringing its 2.5 GHz mid-band spectrum to parts of Philadelphia and New York City. While Philadelphia is already live with mid-band, New York City will be a special rollout as, when it occurs, the city will be the only to have access to both low-band, mid-band, and mmWave 5G. T-Mobile is also continuing its 5G rollout to more cities like Detroit, St. Louis, and Columbus, Ohio. Sprint customers now have access to T-Mobile's LTE network, effectively doubling Sprint's current LTE coverage.

While the company is bringing 5G support to Android phones like the Galaxy S 20 and OnePlus 8 Pro, it still awaits the 5G iPhone. The iPhone 12 is expected to be Apple's first iPhone with 5G connectivity, so it will be interesting to see the effect for those who have service with T-Mobile.

You can read the full press release (opens in new tab) or watch the announcement video below:

Joe Wituschek
Joe Wituschek
Contributor

Joe Wituschek is a Contributor at iMore. With over ten years in the technology industry, one of them being at Apple, Joe now covers the company for the website. In addition to covering breaking news, Joe also writes editorials and reviews for a range of products. He fell in love with Apple products when he got an iPod nano for Christmas almost twenty years ago. Despite being considered a "heavy" user, he has always preferred the consumer-focused products like the MacBook Air, iPad mini, and iPhone 13 mini. He will fight to the death to keep a mini iPhone in the lineup. In his free time, Joe enjoys video games, movies, photography, running, and basically everything outdoors.