Better T-Mobile LTE coverage coming to New York areas sooner than expected

T-Mobile customers in the New York area are getting a boost in LTE coverage that's coming more than a year ahead of schedule. 

T-Mobile worked with CBS-owned local TV stations to take the 600 megahertz radio airwaves covering portions of Long Island, as well as Brooklyn and Queens, and repurpose them for use by the wireless carrier. The 600MHz LTE coverage is expected to be switched on in early 2019, according to T-Mobile's announcement. 

 (Disclosure: CBS is the ultimate parent company of CNET.) 

The move is part of a broader shifting of spectrum from local TV stations to T-Mobile, which won the rights to the airwaves in last year's federal auction of spectrum. The spectrum, which is coveted because it can help T-Mobile provide better indoor coverage across a large geographic stretch, is expected to improve the customer experience. 

The spectrum "repack," which was completed well ahead of the August 2019 FCC deadline, enhances LTE coverage and capacity with equipment that is also 5G ready. 

The push to include 5G-ready equipment is ready with T-Mobile vowing to launch a widely available 5G network in 2019. 

The CBS work only applies to only WLNY, said a spokesman for CBS Television. T-Mobile has similar repacking partnerships with other stations for their 600MHz spectrum, however, including FOX's WWOR-TV, also in the New York area, and NBC's KXAS-TV in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. 

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