Sprint subscribers who are using flagship smartphones could soon see a boost in their data speeds, as the carrier is planning to unlock what is said to be a "hidden" feature in the devices.
Early next year, Sprint will be rolling out an over-the-air update that will activate the said feature, which will use a wireless technology designed to improve connection speed.
Sprint To Launch Three-Channel Carrier Aggregation
The over-the-air update will launch three-channel carrier aggregation for Sprint, which will basically give smartphones higher data bandwidth.
The devices that are set to have the feature unlocked are Apple's iPhone 7, the Samsung Galaxy S7, the Google Pixel and the LG G5.
There is actually already a smartphone in the market that is using three-channel carrier aggregation, and that is the HTC Bolt. The Sprint-exclusive smartphone is being sold at a full price of $600, which is considered a bit steep for its specs of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810, 3 GB of RAM and no headphone jack. However, being the first smartphone that supports three-channel carrier aggregation could be enough of an attraction to draw interest from data speed-conscious customers.
Three-channel carrier aggregation, however, is only available in nine markets, and it is unclear what exactly these nine markets are.
Sprint is not the first carrier that released the technology to its subscribers, as that distinction goes to Verizon, which launched LTE Advanced in August. Sprint's version of the technology is made different by the fact that it uses three different kinds of spectrum, including one above the 2.5 GHz range. With three-channel carrier aggregation, Sprint will be able to utilize all three bands to offer subscribers even faster data speeds.
New Sprint Technology For Faster Data
In addition to three-channel carrier aggregation, Sprint will also be using two other wireless technologies to boost data speeds for subscribers. The first is MIMO, which means multiple input, multiple output. The second is HPUE, or high power user equipment, which will extend the range of the carrier's cellular sites by up to 30 percent.
Sprint is hoping that the combination of three-channel carrier aggregation, MIMO and HPUE will allow it to prove that it has closed the gap in terms of speed with its rivals in the telecommunications industry. Sprint has long been perceived as being the slowest carrier among the big four, which also includes AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, and the utilization of new technology could allow Sprint to finally put rest to that perception once and for all.
