As the network team kicks off a new year, it’s always interesting to reflect back on our accomplishments. One area I’m particularly proud of is our improvement in capacity and download speeds. Why? Because Sprint customers love their Unlimited data.

Over the past two years we see that data traffic on the downlink has grown 56%, and today it accounts for 91% of the traffic on our network. We’re proud to have met this demand by adding more capacity and speed to our network, resulting in a national average download speed of 29 Mbps1, with speeds up 93% over the past two years.2

The latest quarterly data from Ookla shows no one beats Sprint for fastest average download speeds in 105 cities.3 Sprint customers are having a great experience using their favorite apps and services, from Colorado (35 Mbps) to Providence (47 Mbps), and Austin (29 Mbps) to West Kentucky (31 Mbps).4

These results are being driven by our Next-Gen Network strategy and our largest network investment in years. Key elements of our network build include:

LTE Advanced Technology – More and more Sprint customers with capable devices are benefiting from faster data speeds than before as we utilize some of the most advanced technologies in wireless such as High Performance User Equipment (HPUE), 256 QAM, 4X4 MIMO, multiple carrier aggregation and more.

– More and more Sprint customers with capable devices are benefiting from faster data speeds than before as we utilize some of the most advanced technologies in wireless such as High Performance User Equipment (HPUE), 256 QAM, 4X4 MIMO, multiple carrier aggregation and more. Triband Upgrades – As we upgrade more macro sites to use all three of our spectrum bands (800 MHz, 1.9 GHz, and 2.5 GHz) customers get our best network experience.

– As we upgrade more macro sites to use all three of our spectrum bands (800 MHz, 1.9 GHz, and 2.5 GHz) customers get our best network experience. Small Cells – We’re rolling out more of our 2.5 GHz spectrum for faster data speeds than before by adding more indoor and outdoor small cells to our network. We have a fantastic variety of flexible small cell solutions that are making an impact in customers’ homes, businesses and communities.

– We’re rolling out more of our 2.5 GHz spectrum for faster data speeds than before by adding more indoor and outdoor small cells to our network. We have a fantastic variety of flexible small cell solutions that are making an impact in customers’ homes, businesses and communities. Massive MIMO – Massive MIMO is a breakthrough technology that improves the capacity of Sprint’s LTE Advanced network with equipment that is software upgradable to 5G. Initial results from our deployments show Massive MIMO is driving a 4X average increase in capacity and speed, with peak increases up to 10X over LTE.

We’re excited to provide customers with an even better experience than before on an LTE Advanced network that’s built for Unlimited and foundational to the launch of Sprint 5G in the first half of this year.

1 Analysis by Ookla® of Speedtest Intelligence® data average download speeds from 12/1/18 to 12/31/18 for all mobile results.

2 Analysis by Ookla® of Speedtest Intelligence® data comparing average download speeds from December 2016 to December 2018 for all mobile results.

3 Analysis by Ookla® of Speedtest Intelligence® data for average download speeds from 10/1/18 to 12/31/18 for all mobile results.

4 Analysis by Ookla® of Speedtest Intelligence® data average download speeds of Sprint market areas from 10/1/18 to 12/31/18 for all mobile results.