It appears Sprint is on track to win the 5G race.
On Tuesday, the telecommunications company announced it has joined forces with LG to deliver the country’s first smartphone with built-in 5G. Sprint hasn’t revealed many details about the device, such as its name or price, but the company says the phone is expected to hit shelves during the first half of 2019.
“Sprint is moving fast on the road to 5G and we are thrilled to announce the first 5G smartphone with the innovative team at LG,” John Saw, Sprint’s chief technology officer, said in a press release. “LG has done tremendous work developing technical designs that enable us to be among the first movers in mobile 5G. Today's announcement brings us one step closer to putting a beautifully designed advanced 5G smartphone in our customer's hands.”
The upcoming smartphone boasts fewer technical issues and faster speeds. Sprint says the device will allow customers to download full HD movies in a matter of seconds rather than minutes, and will prevent lags or delays for video games. The upcoming device is expected to launch in conjunction with Sprint and T-Mobile’s next-gen network. Earlier this year, the companies announced the nationwide rollout of their 5G network, which is expected to launch in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, New York City, Phoenix, and D.C. next year. Sprint says it intends to expand the network to other parts of the country at some point, but there are still questions about when and where.
Sprint’s news arrives just days before Verizon releases its Moto Z3 smartphone. Though this device will also support Verizon’s next-gen network—expected to launch next year—customers will have to purchase the Moto Mod attachment in order to access the carrier’s 5G network.
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