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T-Mobile preps for 2013 LTE rollout with AT&T's spectrum, 'iPhone ready' HSPA+ by Q4

T-Mobile preps for 2013 LTE rollout with AT&T's spectrum, 'iPhone ready' HSPA+ by Q4

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T-Mobile is naming Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Networks as equipment partners for its planned 2013 LTE rollout. The company's CTO also no-commented a question about the possibility of the iPhone coming to its network once it rolls out HSPA+ on the 1900MHz band.

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t-mobile lte rollout 1020
t-mobile lte rollout 1020

T-Mobile is beginning to cultivate the spectrum it was awarded in its failed merger with AT&T, naming Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Networks as partners for the company’s LTE deployment. The rollout is scheduled for 2013, assuming the company's plans to refarm spectrum go smoothly. T-Mobile is going to have the two infrastructure suppliers provide and install new LTE-Advanced-capable equipment at 37,000 sites, a big step up from its HSPA+ network. T-Mobile is planning to combine the new, AWS band spectrum it got from AT&T with what it's able to refarm from its existing network. The company believes these two sources will be enough to offer "up to 20MHz of LTE in 75 percent of the top 25 markets."

T-Mobile notes in its press release that a planned rollout of HSPA+ service in the 1900MHz band would allow the iPhone to work on its network, but speaking to All Things D, T-Mobile CTO Neville Ray declined to comment on the possibility of marketing directly to existing iPhone customers, saying "it would make sense" but "we’re not there yet." T-Mobile has previously blamed its loss of subscribers on not carrying the iPhone.