T-Mobile customers in Chicago, your network will soon be getting an upgrade.
T-Mobile has entered into an agreement with Leap Licenseco, Inc., an AT&T subsidiary, to acquire 12 MHz of 700 MHz A-block spectrum in Chicago. The spectrum will cover 10.9 million people in the Chicago metro area, including cities like Chicago; Elgin; Joliet; Waukegan; Evanston; Naperville; Aurora; Gary, Ind.; Rockford; De Kalb; Janesville, Wis.; Bloomington; Normal; Kankakee; Kenosha, Wis.; and more.
The deal between T-Mobile and Leap is subject to regulatory approvals and closing conditions. It’s expected to close in Q4 2016, and once it does, T-Mobile will begin to deploy the spectrum for consumer use.
This spectrum will be used for T-Mobile’s Extended Range LTE coverage, which the magenta carrier touts can reach twice as far as its regular LTE signal and its also four times better at penetrating buildings. This deal is big for T-Mobile customers in the Chicagoland area because it should be a big coverage boost when T-Mobile is able to start deploying the spectrum, which will hopefully be at the end of this year.