Smartphones with the logos of T-Mobile and Sprint are seen in this illustration taken on September 19, 2017. Reuters/Dado Ruvic
Sprint Corp. said it plans to launch its commercial 5G service in nine cities in the first half of this year, furthering a battle with rivals to snap up early adopters of the next-generation wireless platform.
Sprint made a series of 5G-related announcements Monday in connection with the start of Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, saying its service will be integrated with Rovio Entertainment Oyj’s Hatch mobile gaming offering, real-time maps from Mapbox Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google Fi virtual wireless network.
The initial cities for the service will be Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix and Washington.
Sprint’s 5G plans are taking further shape as it fights for U.S. approval of its $26.5 billion acquisition by T-Mobile US Inc. Lawmakers and competitors have raised concerns that the combination of the country’s No. 3 and No. 4 wireless carriers will harm customers.
Sprint has been particularly pointed in squaring off against AT&T Inc. on 5G. The smaller company sued AT&T in federal court over AT&T’s use of a "5G E” symbol on phones connected to its enhanced 4G network. The two companies are expected to lead carriers in 5G rollout spending, according to Bloomberg Intelligence analyst John Butler.
