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Sprint to join Rural Operators Roaming Hub (CCA and RRPP thread)


marioc21

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Come on, USCC:

1234525508_ben_stiller_-_do_it.gif

The way things have been managed there lately it wouldn't surprise me if they don't want to reciprocate, at least not cheaply.

 

They probably want to pay for cheap Sprint LTE and charge Sprint a boatload for their LTE.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Sadly, I have to agree with you.  I am sure they will work out some sort of agreement with them, but I think it will be as just a CCA member.  I would be satisfied with a 500MB - 1GB roaming allotment with them though. 

 

I'm still hoping for them to be a RRPP member though.  USCC coverage treated as native would be great around here.  Also, it would give Sprint an instant upgrade in LTE coverage in many areas the day they start it up compared to a lot of these RRPP members that won't have strong LTE networks for awhile. 

CCA agreements are native coverage NOT off network roaming. so if sprint and us cellular do something they will both have access to each others network. us cellular will gain nationwide coverage on sprint's nationwide yet. the other CCA members that have already signed on with sprint work the same way.

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OK stupid question time.

I've skimmed through pretty much all the entries on this thread and have seen some mentioning of requiring new devices in order to support Band 12 and maybe a few other bands, but lets say RRPP members and Sprint switch on LTE roaming today.  I'm sure its dependent upon the LTE setup of each of the RRPP members, but what current devices, if any, would be able to take advantage of the roaming?

sprint is planning on adding alot of LTE bands that arent used on there current footprint. for sure they will add the ones of the CCA members. so new phones will work with that. however for current phones that dont have thos bands, the CCA members have also agreed to building out sprint network onto there towers. Includeing the spark band. hope this info helps.

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I am very interested in Bluegrass Cellular's involvement in this.  Where I live in Central Kentucky they have a huge LTE presence and curiously enough the iPhone 5S model used for Sprint is the same model listed on Apple's site that supports Bluegrass Cellular for supported LTE and not the Verizon model.

 

It would be nice if Sprint and BC executed a roaming agreement and hopefully would only require a iPhone update to allow for roaming.

when bluegrass agreement goes into affect with sprint it will include LTE. they use diffrent bands from sprint so sprint will support there bands in new phones. bluegrass is a member of CCA so some of sprints CCA members have agreed to build out sprint current network bands onto there towers.

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Out of nowhere, Blue Wireless is participating in this. Blue's network has been pretty bad up until this point only offering 1x service. What I don't understand is that Blue's coverage is only cities. Cities that Sprint covers nonetheless. 

 

In New York:

  • Binghamton
  • Buffalo
  • Elmira
  • Jamestown
  • Dunkirk
  • Niagara Falls

In Pennsylvania:

  • Scranton
  • Wilkes-Barre

All have native Sprint coverage and some have 4G LTE. I'm in Scranton and we definitely have Network Vision rolled out here. Blue's plans beat everyone else though. $46 for everything including unlimited high-speed data. Blue definitely runs its own network too. 

this is a good question. one of the benitfits of these agreements is. bluegrass can use sprint nationwide network outside of there current footprint.

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CCA agreements are native coverage NOT off network roaming.

...the CCA members have also agreed to building out sprint network onto there towers. Includeing the spark band.

 

No, the off network LTE situation is not as simple as that.  S4GRU has pertinent information on CCA/RRPP partner relationships.  But additional clarification is still forthcoming, and S4GRU will publish an article at the appropriate time.

 

AJ

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this is a good question. one of the benitfits of these agreements is. bluegrass can use sprint nationwide network outside of there current footprint.

Funny thing is I know several people who live in Buffalo and BW is hardly advertised so not many know about them but must be enough they are still going ok to stay alive!! 

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this is a good question. one of the benitfits of these agreements is. bluegrass can use sprint nationwide network outside of there current footprint.

Funny thing is I know several people who live in Buffalo and BG is hardly advertised so not many know about them but must be enough they are still going ok to stay alive!! 

 

Uh, guys, you are confusing two different operators.  Blue Wireless and Bluegrass Cellular are not the same.  The former is in New York, the latter in Kentucky.

 

AJ

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  • 3 weeks later...

As new phones are announced at CES and other upcoming shows is there a complete list of bands somewhere that I can compare to the new phone announcements, to see if the new handsets are fully CCA compliant? I am particularly interested in knowing that the next phone I buy could handle the speculation of a US Cellular LTE roaming agreement as they are huge in my market.

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As new phones are announced at CES and other upcoming shows is there a complete list of bands somewhere that I can compare to the new phone announcements, to see if the new handsets are fully CCA compliant? I am particularly interested in knowing that the next phone I buy could handle the speculation of a US Cellular LTE roaming agreement as they are huge in my market.

CCA/RRPP-compliant devices will support at least LTE bands 2/4/5/12/25/26/41. USCC currently uses bands 5 & 12.

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Will a B26 device operate on B5 given that B5 is a subset of B26?  In the area where my parents are, US Cellular has no B12, only B5.

 

No, not necessarily.

 

Even though we are talking superset/subset, band 26 compatibility does not guarantee band 5 compatibility.  If both bands have been FCC tested, then yes.  But if band 5 has not been tested, then any band 5 network must also implement MFBI for band 26 devices to attach.

 

AJ

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Will a B26 device operate on B5 given that B5 is a subset of B26? In the area where my parents are, US Cellular has no B12, only B5.

It can, so long as the operator of the B5 network has enabled MFBI. To my knowledge, USCC has not publicly announced any plans to deploy MFBI (unlike AT&T, which is doing so later this year in order to support B12 devices). This is just speculation, but it is possible that Sprint & USCC would each like the other to enable MFBI before announcing their LTE roaming deal.

 

Edit: ninja'd by AJ.

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So what would happen is US Cellular would advertise its network as B5 and B26 and then it would work on my phone, essentially.  Right?

Yep!

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So what would happen is US Cellular would advertise its network as B5 and B26 and then it would work on my phone, essentially.  Right?

 

First, an LTE roaming agreement is the linchpin.  But, assuming that, yes, MFBI can be used by a network to "advertise" -- in a behind the scenes, RF signaling kind of way -- that it is compatible with multiple superset/subset bands.

 

AJ

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US Cellular had said they were going to sign an LTE roaming agreement with a large carrier by the end of last year. Is there any updates on this? I am crossing my fingers that it is with Sprint and that it happens before my central Oregon vacation over Memorial day weekend.

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Sprint's twitter account today said that the CCA has been active since November 2014. Is that accurate? What phones would be capable of that since November if true?

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Sprint's twitter account today said that the CCA has been active since November 2014. Is that accurate? What phones would be capable of that since November if true?

The nexus 6 for one.

 

Jim, Sent from my Photon 4G using Tapatalk 2

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