Sprint

Magic Box

As the race towards 5G picked up speed, mobile carrier Sprint was eager for nationwide deployment solutions for their proprietary small-cell radio dubbed “Magic Box”.

Magic Box came with much anticipation as it was able to finally utilize Sprint’s trove of 2.5GHz spectrum. An asset that would position Sprint to be able to deliver improved 4G LTE speeds and eventually widespread mid-band 5G service. Magic Box was an indoor, free-standing device. When provisioned near an exterior wall or window, Magic Box could improve the capacity of the nearest macro tower and improve LTE speeds in the area up to 200%.

Ultra Networks sub-contracted under Vivint for an initial scope of Magic Box deployments in 2018. The directive was to place these small-cells in high-need areas of Phoenix, Raleigh, Charlotte, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Ultra Networks representatives exacted site approval and installed over 1,000 Magic Boxes across four different cities in just under 10 weeks.

Of the original 10 vendors Sprint partnered with, only two contracts were renewed for additional deployments. Ultra Networks would go on to deploy nearly 1,300 more small-cells in Atlanta, Riverside and Seattle. Prior to approval of the T-Mobile/Sprint merger, plans for were in place for additional deployments in San Antonio, Minneapolis and Washington D.C. and have since been delayed