T-Mobile to deploy Extended Range LTE in Chicago in the first half of 2017

Earlier this year, T-Mobile announced it had reached an agreement to acquire 700 MHz low-band spectrum from Leap Licenseco, Inc., an AT&T subsidiary.

The transaction is already closed, enabling the company to deliver its Extended Range LTE coverage to 10.9 million people throughout the Chicago metro area.

T-Mobile’s Extended Range LTE – which carries cellular signals 2x further from the tower and is 4x better in buildings than before – has already been deployed to cover 240 million people across the US. Extended Range LTE is just part of T-Mobile’s overall LTE coverage, which reaches 312 million people.

T-Mobile expects to deploy Extended Range LTE in Chicago in the first half of 2017. The closing of this transaction marks the culmination of one of the most successful spectrum rollup programs ever by a US wireless company.

T-Mobile now has 700MHz A-block spectrum that covers the entire top 10 US markets and is capable of covering 272 million Americans – or 84% of the US population – with Extended Range LTE.

This additional spectrum being purchased in this transaction covers many different towns and cities in the Greater Chicago area, including Chicago, Elgin, Joliet, Waukegan, Evanston, Naperville, Aurora, Gary (IN), Rockford, De Kalb, Janesville (WI), Bloomington, Normal, Kankakee, Kenosha (WI) and more.