The revelation was made by T-Mobile’s CTO, Neville Ray, and suggests that T-Mobile is easily on target to reach its 300 million goal by the end of 2015. With 280 million POPs (or people) covered with LTE now, T-Mobile has the same number of people covered as its nearest rival, Sprint. Our favorite carrier plans to expand its LTE further in to areas where it doesn’t currently have a retail presence, in a bid to offer both network and services in markets currently dominated by AT&T and Verizon.

Ray announced its plans during an appearance at the MoffettNathanson Media and Communications summit earlier. Its ambitions – if achieved – will see T-Mobile “take competition into more and more key areas of the U.S.”

Fierce Wireless reports:

Ray said he is not sure how much T-Mobile will expand its retail presence into new markets this year, but that it will likely expand next year. T-Mobile has been “furiously” deploying its 700 MHz A Block spectrum, which covers 190 million POPs, Ray said. He noted that T-Mobile has cleared or has contracts to clear Channel 51 broadcasters to resolve interference concerns from more than 140 million POPs out of the 190 million, and has launched the spectrum in markets like Dallas; Detroit; Houston; Philadelphia; Tampa, Fla; and San Antonio, Texas, so far in 2015. Ray said the overall LTE expansion is a “massive incremental opportunity for this company.”

It’s good to hear that T-Mo has plans beyond just simply expanding its network reach. By also growing its retail footprint it can maximize its presence in the U.S. and also be sure to reach places it hasn’t before. It not only means great mindshare of consumers, but also, more people to work for and join team magenta. After all, we can never have too many people cheering on the most awesome network provider in the world, can we?

Source: Fierce Wireless