Sherae Honeycutt

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Original Post

Got a smart phone? Got Sprint? Your service may have just upgraded Thursday.

Sprint announced a 5G roll out in parts of Kansas City and Johnson County. Sprint’s CEO Michael Combes announced the launch at a downtown event to a room of Sprint and Ericsson employees.

“5G will unlock so many new opportunities, so to bring that to Kansas City is what we are really willing to do, and that is what we are so excited to do,” Combes said.

For Sprint customers, the company says 5G will be 20-times faster than 4G. Sprint claims its 5G service will be more dependable and more widespread. They are releasing a specially designed phone, and home hub to go with the new network.

Technology expert, Burton Kelso with Integral, says this is a big deal for Kansas City.

“It just emphasizes that Kansas City is that tech hub, even though many people would consider us flyover country,” Kelso said. “We are a tech hub because now we’ve got 5G, and of course, Google Fiber.”

Joshua James has been using Sprint for over 12 years, and is excited to see 5G on his phone.

“Wow! That’s pretty sweet. It’s about time!” James said. “Everything in life is just going faster, and faster, and faster, so being able to have everything I need as fast as I can is probably a good thing.”

Combes also addressed the merger of Sprint and T-Mobile saying when the merger happens 5G would be available nationwide.

“We have always said that the roots of Sprint in Kansas City were absolutely critical for the company,” Combes said. “We are there to prevail, and we’ll continue to invest massively in Kansas City moving forward.”

Kansas City, Houston, Dallas, and Atlanta all got 5G capability through Sprint on Thursday. The company plans to roll it out to larger cities in the coming weeks.