Sprint Spark LTE Service Expands To 17 New Markets

Sprint recently announced that is has expanded its Spark LTE service to 17 new markets. Spark is the carrier's brand name for its enhanced 4G LTE service, which delivers wireless speeds of 50 mbps to 60 mbps, with potentially incrementing speeds over time. With its spectrum and technology, the carrier could eventually offer speeds of up to 2 Gbps. 

With this latest expansion, the coverage of Sprint Spark now reaches a total of 46 markets across the United States. Before the year ends, the LTE service coverage should serve over 100 million subscribers.

The 17 new markets are as follows:

• Bay City, Michigan
• Flint, Michigan
• Midland, Michigan
• Saginaw, Michigan
• Cleveland, Ohio
• Columbus, Ohio
• Mount Vernon, Ohio
• New Philadelphia, Ohio
• Tiffin, Ohio
• Youngstown, Ohio
• Minneapolis-St Paul, Minnesota
• Seattle, Washington
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
• Denver, Colorado
• Ogden, Utah
• Henderson, North Carolina
• Sacramento, California

The Sprint Spark network is designed to facilitate better viewing and usage of videos and other bandwidth-heavy apps. Video chats can be done completely stutter-free, while mobile gaming sessions can be achieved without any lag.

This is made possible because Spark takes advantage of no less than three different bands of LTE spectrum -- 800 MegaHertz, 1.9 GigaHertz, and 2.5 GigaHertz. This allows for faster speeds and a more expanded capacity, especially for devices that support LTE. 

The carrier currently offers 38 devices compatible for use on Sprint Spark. These include some of the most in-demand smartphones and handsets today such as the iPhone 6, iPad Air 2, Nexus 6, Samsung Galaxy S5, LG G3, HTC One (M8), and many others. 

When Sprint initially launched its 4G service six years ago, it utilized Wi-Max technology. It has since switched to LTE a few years later. LTE, which is shorthand for long-term evolution, is now the more widely used 4G technology. Sprint however fully maximized Wi-Max's 2.5 GigaHertz spectrum, using it to offer faster data transfer capabilities, and merging a couple of other spectrum technologies in order to facilitate better coverage. For comparison, Verizon offers XLTE, which offers throughput speeds of 5 mbps to 12 mbps. AT&T also has its 4G LTE service (launched in November in the year 2012), which offers speeds of 5 mbps to 12 mbps. 

Sprint is still offering Wi-Max as of now, but the carrier is planning to end support for this technology by next year. Are you interested to know more about what Sprint is currently offering? You can start comparing Sprint plans and phones now.