Sprint LTE wireless now reaches 43 markets

Computerworld - Sprint announced Monday it has activated faster LTE wireless service in 11 more cities and counties, reaching a total of 43 markets.

The new areas will continue to be expanded in the coming months. They are: Anderson, Muncie and South Bend, Ind.; Clarke County and Jefferson County, W.Va.; Harrisburg, Pa., area; Hagerstown, Md.;Peabody, Mass.; Salina, Kan.; and Harrisonburg, Shenandoah County and Winchester, Va.

On Nov. 13, Sprint announced LTE service in nine cities, including Minneapolis/St. Paul, after previously announcing it would expand LTE to 125 cities in total.

As the third largest U.S. wireless carrier, Sprint is also third in LTE rollouts. Verizon Wireless says it has reached more than 440 cities, while AT&T recently said it has LTE in 103 cities.

Downlink speeds on new LTE networks with few users can top out at 20 Mbps to 50 Mbps, but the average download is 8 Mbps to 12 Mbps on a crowded wireless connection.

Matt Hamblen covers mobile and wireless, smartphones and other handhelds, and wireless networking for Computerworld. Follow Matt on Twitter at @matthamblen or subscribe to Matt's RSS feed. His email address is mhamblen@computerworld.com.

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