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Sprint Starts LTE-A Rollout in Chicago, Creates 300 Jobs in the City

Sprint Starts LTE-A Rollout in Chicago, Creates 300 Jobs in the City

Sprint plans to start its LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) network upgrade in Chicago with an investment of $45 million, a project it expects to be fully completed by the end of next year. The upgrade is part of Sprint's initiative to increase the number of cell sites in the city in response to the increasing wireless usage by its customers. According to Sprint, wireless usage in Chicago went up by more than 640% in the last 3 years. 

The 3rd largest Operator in the US said that the new cell sites will be located in the neighborhoods throughout the city and will include areas around Rush University Medical Center, along Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) subway routes and areas surrounding Garfield Park. At the same time, the company will also be expanding its retail investment, opening up 46 new retail stores in these areas, it added. 

Sprint said that the LTE-A technology will provide faster speeds for better performance of video and other bandwidth-intensive applications, including new generations of online gaming, virtual reality and advanced cloud services. The company has already invested more than $548 million in the last 3 years on its network in Chicago to ensure the best service experience on its wireless service.

The new network upgrade exercise, said Sprint, is expected to contribute to the creation of local jobs for example, installation works for new cell sites, predicting around 300 new jobs to be available throughout the project tenure.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel 
Sprint’s investment means more jobs in our neighborhoods today, and supports Chicago’s continued economic growth. From the new storefronts to making us the first in the nation to upgrade to faster service, Sprint is helping to bring both the jobs and the technology to power Chicago’s neighborhoods and communities for the 21st century.

Marcelo Claure, Sprint CEO
Chicago is the perfect city for Sprint to expand its operations – diverse, innovative and on the path to becoming a world-class technology leader. New stores mean more jobs, and a first-class network means loyal and satisfied customers ready to use faster and more reliable connections. Chicago has long been Sprint’s city of choice for introducing new technologies and the company continues that commitment with the support of the Mayor’s office

Image By: Daniel Schwen (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Author

Ray is a news editor at The Fast Mode, bringing with him more than 10 years of experience in the wireless industry.

For tips and feedback, email Ray at ray.sharma(at)thefastmode.com, or reach him on LinkedIn @raysharma10, Facebook @1RaySharma

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