US Cellular said it will turn up an enhanced 5G offering in the coming weeks, three months ahead of schedule

US Cellular announced it would be able to expand its 5G network faster than expected, as it has received full access to the 5G C-Band spectrum that it was awarded from Auction 107 in March 2021, the telco said in a release. 

The carrier said it will turn up an “enhanced” 5G offering in the coming weeks, three months ahead of schedule.  Earlier this year, US Cellular upgraded more than 440 cell sites in preparation for this spectrum access. The carrier noted that C-Band spectrum technology brings faster data speeds and more capacity.

“This early access to our C-Band spectrum allows us to accelerate our plans and bring a superior network experience to more mobile and Home Internet customers earlier than expected,” said Mike Irizarry, executive vice president and chief technology officer at US Cellular. “Additional spectrum access is important as we advance our mission to connect people to what matters most.”

The 5G network expansion builds on US Cellular’s recent 5G midband network launch that kicked off in 10 states earlier this year. US Cellular said that its new 5G midband service, combined with a midband enabled device, can provide up to 10 times faster speeds compared to its 4G LTE network and low-band 5G.

The telco had said that its 5G midband network will be initially available mainly in parts of Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin, including sections of Rockford, Illinois, Des Moines, Iowa and Milwaukee. Communities in Maine, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oregon, Virginia and Washington are also included in the initial rollout. By the end of the year, the company aims to cover more than 1 million households in its operating footprint with its 5G midband network.

With this previous launch, US Cellular now offers its customers low-band, mid-band and high-band mmWave 5G speeds and services. The company said it expects nearly 3 million households in its operating footprint will have access to 5G mid-band connectivity by the end of 2024.

The carrier’s 5G midband network is using spectrum in the 3.45 GHz band, which the company had secured last year. US Cellular said that Nordic vendors Ericsson and Nokia are working in this deployment.

In December 2022, US Cellular said it expanded its 5G next-generation network in a number of states thanks to a software that improves 5G coordination between cell sites.

To accelerate its rollout, US Cellular is tappingX2 coordination, a feature that connects neighboring eNodeBs in a to assist handover, and thus, providing rapid coordination of radio resources. Doing so is allowing the carrier to more easily and quickly extend existing 5G service to neighboring sites.