New York, NY (May 22, 2018)—Wireless microphone operators have a new tool that allows them to see if T-Mobile’s new 600 MHz or Band 71 LTE services are active in their area using crowdsourced data.
T-Mobile recently reported that its Band 71 services, which occupy a chunk of the 600 MHz band auctioned off by TV broadcasters in 2017, are now available in more than 800 cities in 31 states. The carrier offers an interactive coverage map that allows users to check current coverage down to street level and to compare that to the improvements expected from its new Extended Range LTE-600 MHz services for those using compliant mobile devices.
About half a dozen Band 71-capable phones are currently on the market. T-Mobile previously announced plans to launch a dozen by the end of 2018.
Spectrum Gateway also offers extremely comprehensive information on T-Mobile’s plans for its Band 71 deployments.
But a new report by PCMag took crowdsourced data collected since March 1, 2018 by Ookla Speedtest to confirm exactly where T-Mobile subscribers can access Band 71 right now—where wireless audio equipment users may no longer operate in the 600 MHz band—and breaks it down into Northeast, Central and Northwest regions across the U.S.
PCMag’s maps indicate that Band 71 coverage is concentrated in rural areas at present—central and northern Arizona, for instance—as well as cities such as Santa Fe, NM, Omaha, NE and large parts of New Jersey adjacent to New York City. But T-Mobile’s latest Band 71 service announcements also include major metropolitan areas such as New York, Los Angeles and Las Vegas, so wireless mic users nationwide need to make plans to vacate the 600 MHz spectrum sooner rather than later.
