It's been a few months since T-Mobile announced its network modernization plans, which include refarming some of its 2G 1900MHz spectrum to be used for HSPA+ and an LTE deployment planned for next year. Today the carrier posted a brief update on the progress of these plans on its official blog. Dave Mayo, senior vice president of technology at T-Mobile, says that now that the carrier is making headway with its plans now that it's got equipment contracts in place. T-Mobile plans to have new hardware installed at its first 400 GSM/HSPA+ cell sites by the end of June, Mayo explains, with expectations for that figure to grow to 2,500 by the time July wraps up. Some small 1900MHz HSPA+ tests are being conducted as T-Mobile puts its new equipment online, including at the Moscone West convention center in San Francisco where Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference is currently going down.
On the LTE side of things, Mayo says that testing of T-Mobile's LTE is currently underway, and the carrier plans to start using LTE Release 10 equipment in its tests this summer. T-Mobile plans to launch its LTE network in 2013.
T-Mobile has pointed out that its refarmed 1900MHz HSPA+ coverage will not only improve its current voice and data services, but will also make its network compatible with more devices, including the iPhone. Those factors make T-Mobile's spectrum refarming effort something that customers can look forward to, and it's good to see that T-Mo is making progress on getting its 1900MHz HSPA+ service rolled out. That service is expected to arrive "in a large number of markets" later in 2012, and T-Mobile will be performing more tests similar to the one currently happening at Moscone West as it gets closer to the public deployment. How many of you T-Mobile folk are planning on taking advantage of the 1900MHz HSPA+ coverage with one of the devices that'll T-Mo's network will be newly-compatible with?
