Telecom operator Sprint said on Tuesday it would launch a 5G smartphone made by OnePlus.
Sprint, a part of SoftBank of Japan, would be becoming the second U.S. wireless carrier after T-Mobile to offer a cellphone made by the Chinese company.
Dow Draper, chief commercial officer of Sprint, said: “This new smartphone gives Sprint customers another exciting option for accessing their True Mobile 5G experience.”
Sprint is offering 5G service at $80 per month. Sprint is already offering 5G smartphones from Taiwan’s HTC and South Korean mobile makers, Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics.
US-based telecom operators have already stopped selling smartphones supplied by China’s Huawei Technologies.
The fourth largest telecommunications company with 54.3 million mobile phone customers in the United States did not disclose when, and at what price, the OnePlus smartphone will be made available.
Sprint 5G is available in areas of Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and Kansas City. Sprint will launch 5G service in Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix and Washington D.C. in the coming weeks.
Sprint’s True Mobile 5G network will cover approximately 2,100 square miles and 11 million people total across all nine market launch areas, giving Sprint the largest initial 5G coverage footprint in the U.S.
Verizon Communications and AT&T, the #1 and #2 mobile service providers, are building out 5G mobile network across the U.S.
