Sprint Tells About New Cells

Last month we noted that Sprint's CEO Marcelo Claure mentioned that they would focus less on small cells and more on full-size or "macro" cells.  We had hoped that would mean new coverage in rural areas and places where Sprint had lost roaming coverage through now-lost partners.

Last week on UBS Global Media and Communications Brokers Conference Call, Tarek Robbiati, Sprint CFO indicated they would "tri-band" their cell sites, and, "we are going to add a few new towers because our network footprint is probably in need of an expansion in some specific neighborhoods where we feel we are a little bit short. So we are going to roll out new towers, a few thousand towers, to get back in line with neighborhood expansion." Neighborhood expansion? That does not sound like new coverage in Casper, Wyoming. It sounds like new coverage in that part of San Francisco where they could use a few more bars in a few more bars...or homes.

Related Post: Sprint New Coverage is Coming

Since he also said, "a few thousand towers", maybe they will be in some in new areas.  Could we (or, even more, Sprint) hope for Euro-style Free-Range Roaming?  Or can we ignore that "1% difference?"