T-Mobile To Reportedly Start Prepping 5G Network This Summer

T-Mobile is wasting no time in expanding high-speed cell coverage across the United States. On June 15, just a day after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted T-Mobile the 600 MHz spectrum it nabbed in a broadcast inducement auction earlier this year, the self-coined "Un-carrier" has begun prepping deployments in select cities.

According to the Digital Trends, T-Mobile subscribers will start to see the first vestiges of coverage this summer, when it rolls out coverage on its 31 MHz to 600 MHz spectrum licenses. Thanks to the support of the FCC and broadcasters and an engineering timeline which is well ahead of expectations. The T-Mobile expects to have 5G ready in time for 600 MHz smartphones from Samsung and other manufacturers this summer.

After being certified the essential spectrum licenses by the FCC on Wednesday, T-Mobile claims that it'll be ready for "deployment activities" this summer. The carrier has reportedly spent $8 billion on the 5G spectrum to build a network which will become what everyone considers as a "5G network" in the coming future. What it'll do in the short-term is strengthen existing LTE coverage and increase capacity, as reported by Talk Android. "T-Mobile expects more than 1 million square miles of 600 MHz spectrum the Un-carrier [sic] owns to be clear and ready for deployment," T-Mobile mentioned in a blog post.

Securing the spectrum wasn't easy before in the United States. In April, T-Mobile used up an enormous $8 billion on blocks of wireless frequency owned by 175 TV stations. Shortly afterward, those TV stations began a 39-month changeover period.

The June 15 announcement follows on the heels of T-Mobile's previous related pronouncements. In May, the Deutsche Telekom-owned worker pledged to release a nationwide 5G network in three years, with the aim of wrapping up a rollout by 2020.