Houston, Los Angeles, New York City, Phoenix and Washington, D.C., will also have Sprint's 5G service in the first half of this year, the company said.
When combined with T-Mobile, the two companies are building a nationwide network that "reaches underserved communities" and "accelerates competition," said Sprint CEO Michel Combes.
T-Mobile and Sprint have proposed a $26 billion merger of the two telecom companies, but the plan hasn't yet cleared regulatory approval. Sprint made the announcement in Barcelona at the Mobile World Conference where it was demonstrating its new technology.
In lobbying for its merger, Sprint and T-Mobile use their combined efforts in 5G as a reason to combine, saying neither company can't build a national network on its own.
Dallas-based AT&T has already launched its 5G mobile network in parts of a dozen cities, including Dallas. However, the smartphones currently on the market aren't able to use it yet.
The next generation of mobile networks, called 5G by the telecom industry, promises to have speeds that are exponentially faster than the current 4G LTE mobile networks. It's expected to support emerging technologies like autonomous cars and virtual reality.
Sprint said its new phone, the LG V50 ThinQ 5G, will go on sale this spring with touchless control that lets users perform common tasks hands-free with just a wave.
©2019 The Dallas Morning News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
