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Sprint’s First LTE Test Site is Kankakee, IL

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Sprint is working hard to fulfill their promise of LTE deployments by the middle of this year, and it looks like they could be on track to keep that promise. They’ve revealed that they’ve started testing the network in its first test site – a little town in Illinois called Kankakee. With a modest population of around 27,000, Fierce points out that it is an odd area to test in.

Perhaps it is, but perhaps Sprint is playing it safe and wants to take baby steps to make sure they get this thing right. As I’m no expert in LTE networks and optimal testing conditions, I can’t say that is the case myself. Whatever the reason may be, however, we at least know Sprint is on its way to building out a 4G network that can compete in today’s crowded space. [WSJ]

Quentyn Kennemer
The "Google Phone" sounded too awesome to pass up, so I bought a G1. The rest is history. And yes, I know my name isn't Wilson.

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27 Comments

  1. Yeah because that’s where ALL the high usage users are… Kankakee, Illinois.

    Test site #2… Bukakke, Japan. **TROLLFACE**

  2. It’s highly like when the first Sprint LTE phone comes out the initial cities (Dallas, Balt, ATL, KC, etc) will work at least in some areas of the metro.  When WiMAX first came out it was up and running with many sites many months before a market was ‘officially’ announced.  Most of the market is usually covered when officially announced.

  3. long as i can get a lil taste from downtown chicago area…

  4. Once again, T-Mobile is left at the LTE door.

  5. Getting ready for Bears training camp, not too far from there.  

  6. Not holding my breath. Sprint sh%^ the bed with wimax. Their speed of rolling out network is atrocious. If you live in a heavily populated city you are likely ok. If not, you are stuck waiting forever.

    1. Yeah, so they changed the sheets and got a good nights rest. What I mean is that they’ve washed their hands of the situation and are moving forward, and their new LTE is gonna be solid! Check the rollout map out! Almost all of the US will have LTE! (There’s a lot of Sprint roaming spots, a great thing for Sprint to have under their belt.)

      1.  I’ll believe it when I see it. There is nothing I would like more than to be wrong here… Sprint has been around for a very long time and has been dominated by others (such as Verizon and ATT) for as long as I can remember. I will keep my expectations low, this way I can only be pleasantly surprised.

        1.  lord, stop trolling lol

          1. David, I am not trolling lol

    2. yea, Sprint didnt really have anything to do with the build out of WiMax though.  This is a different story.

      1.  Only time will tell. For me, it has been nothing but letdown after letdown. As a paying customer, I don;t care why they let me down. Fact is they did.

        1. I don’t think there is any dispute on that front, and nobody is saying to not be skeptical, but be realistic. It’s not a 3rd party in control of the 4G roll out this time around. I would hope that Sprint learned their lesson this time around. I’m betting on Sprint this time around.

    3.  Sprint did not do the roll out for Wimax Clearwire did. Before you bitch, bitch at the right company.

      1. First, off, I am not bitching, I am sharing my opinions. That’s the reason we are able to post responses on sites like this one: to share an opinion. Second, I could care less who’s fault it
        was. At the end of the day, Sprint dropped the ball on getting service
        that was promised to their customers. Obviously they entered the 4G
        (wimax) market poorly. Lastly, Sprints service has been crappy from the
        getgo, for me. I have been with them on and off for the last eight years
        or so. Devices and plans are what kept me coming back. There is
        definitely a reason why their plans are so cheap on paper.

        1.  If you could care less who fault it is? Then why are you blaming the party that was not not at fault. You’re opinions is you bitching.

          1.  LOL whatever man. If not painting Sprint as a wonderful carrier without faults is bitching, then paint me was such; I am bitching, and I am ok with that. At the end of the day, my monthly payment went straight to Sprint. Sprint partnered with clearwire. Clearwirse let Sprint down, therefore Sprint let me down. At the end of the day they didn’t meet their end of the bargain, regardless of the reason behind it. They are both at fault. Like I said, I hope I am wrong about their LTE rollout, but I don;t think I am. Let’s see if their footprint even touches that of Verizon or ATT. Like I said, I hope they do. I may come back to Sprint for another try.

            P.S. I know, for a fact, I am not the only one that feels this way about Sprint. Piss poor 3G speeds and spotty coverage are included in my reasoning why Sprint has let me down.

    4. One word: S4GRU!

      Okay, so it’s not really a word. But anyone who is interested in Sprint’s LTE launch should follow them.

  7. I know a guy who works on the network for sprint and he told me a month ago that it was up and running strong in KC then. He expects the annoucment of the initial launch cities being on to coincide with the nexus launch, which internally they have been told is the first week of May.

    1. That shit sucks, get it out of here!

    2. Exactly. I thought an old news article got bumped to the front page somehow.

  8. I have high hopes for Sprint this year.. They are transferring their voice call frequencies from the 1800 – 1900 Mhz range down to the 900 Mhz range as they retire the Nextel towers – That alone should provide a huge boost nationwide for coverage and signal strength.  In addition, as others have mentioned, Sprint is controlling this roll-out and are not at the mercy of another company.  

  9.  No way dude!  I can make money just by moving around some numbers like in the movies?

  10. Oh sorry… I think you have the wrong forum.  The suckers are in the iPhone forums.  You can click the link in the footer of this page.

    By the way… all your letters have mustaches.  I’d get a new keyboard if I were you.

    *TROLLFACE*

  11. This will be a shock to me if they even get it running. But after all the BS i had from sprint i still say they should just give up and get bought out im going to be nice and say they will be able to keep going till about 2014 before they have to close there doors cause they ran out of money.

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