Back in May earlier this year, Sprint had unveiled Magic Box, which is basically an LTE Advanced User Equipment (UE) Relay tool. Built by AirSpan (a firm that develops small cell wireless tech), Magic Box was intended to enhance LTE coverage, especially Sprint’s own mobile subscribers. In the months since, the wireless carrier was quick to credit its Magic Box offering for helping it improve its network performance.
Now, Sprint is looking to take Magic Box to new heights, literally. By striking a partnership with CyPhy Works, a company that specializes in drone tech, the major US mobile operator is putting the Magic Box on a drone, so that it could be deployed to provide LTE coverage from the air. Apart from mounting it on a drone, Sprint and CyPhy Works also made sure to make a more lightweight version of the Magic Box that comes with a modified power supply.
A week ago, Sprint had actually tried to text its flying Magic Box in the city of Midlothian in the state of Texas. In this test, the Magic Box was intended to serve as an aerial small cell that can expand the wireless carrier’s 2.5 GigaHertz data service up to 10 square miles. The purpose of the experiment was to determine if a Magic Box drone can prove reliable, especially in cases like natural calamities, or when used for big arena or outdoor concerts, or even in major sports events held in large stadiums.
As explained by Gunther Ottendorfer, the chief operating officer of Sprint, the flying Magic Box not only was able to connect to a cell tower located half a dozen miles away, it also managed to provide a clear connection to ground level.
When Sprint first introduced the Magic Box nearly five months ago, it positioned the service as something more than just a mere repeater. Because of LTE Advanced User Equipment Relay tech, the Magic Box can efficiently establish connection with Sprint’s macro network via its 2.5 GigaHertz or 1.9 GigaHertz spectrum. In other typical small cell solutions, back haul connections are usually created through either fiber or wireless Internet connections, which still essentially need a physical wire to function.
To date, Sprint has not revealed any hard numbers with regards to how many Magic Box units have been rolled out so far. But it is estimated to be in the thousands. Last August, the wireless carrier stated that its national download speeds have improved 28 percent in the last seven months (per data provided by Ookla Speedtest Intelligence), and its deployment of Magic Box contributed significantly to that performance.
