Sprint Signs LTE Agreements with Rural Cellular Carriers

June 18, 2014

Progress is being made in the effort to spread LTE cellular service to rural America, bringing the need for upgrades to existing towers and maybe even some new, fill-in sites. This week, Sprint reached LTE agreements with a dozen rural and regional network carriers, giving smaller carriers a path forward to high speed wireless.

Sprint, Competitive Carriers Association (CCA) and the NetAmerica Alliance have developed the Rural Roaming Preferred Program to provide carriers with low-cost access to Sprint’s nationwide 4G LTE network in rural areas where the cost of building such networks and the roaming costs are prohibitively expensive. CCA has developed a central data hub as a clearinghouse for its members to enter into reciprocal roaming agreements with Sprint, which has formed a shared-network alliance with the NetAmerica Alliance.

Sprint has a history of rural network cooperation with nTelos, which has been extended through 2022, but agreements signed by carriers as part of the Rural Roaming Preferred Program kicks that into high gear with the potential of coverage to 23 states with a population of more than 34 million people. Agreements were signed with SouthernLINC Wireless, C Spire Wireless, Nex-Tech Wireless, Flat Wireless, nTelos, MobileNation, Inland Cellular, Illinois Valley Cellular, Carolina West Wireless, James Valley Telecommunications, VTel Wireless and Phoenix Wireless.

This week’s announcement, however, is merely the first step in a business mating ritual where the carriers will be vetted as business and spectrum partners for Sprint.

Rural Carriers Sign on to Use LTE Switches

From a technology standpoint, rural carriers appear to be gearing up for 4G. NewCore Wireless has announced a flurry of agreements to host rural 4G/LTE networks on its switch facilities.

LTE switching agreements were signed with Mid-Rivers Communications, a telecommunications cooperative in eastern and central Montana; Illinois Valley Cellular (IVC), a provider in north central Illinois; and Glenwood Telecommunications, which serves 12 counties across south central Nebraska.

Other rural carriers using NewCore’s LTE switches include Rainbow Telecommunications, Kansas; and Dickey Rural Networks, North Dakota.