T-Mobile LTE & Network Discussion V2

[NYC126]

If TMobile can get their hands on this spectrum all three national carrier's will be in a world of trouble.

And you assume the piggy banks carriers  known as the Twin Bells will allow Tmobile to get that spectrum? they will outbid Tmobile if they have to.

[Arysyn]

Getting radios added to phones and devices isn't an issue. The bands are already certified by the 3GPP. Tmobile would have to install new gear and customers have to get new phones. In which the same thing happens now OEMs make devices to accommodate Sprint's 1x800. Most people are switching phones almost yearly when the new iPhones or Galaxies come out anyways. So the issues you think it's going to cause is almost non existent.

The issue like I mentioned, is different with Sprint than it is with Dish's spectrum. Sprint has had the 800mhz spectrum for years and is well established. Plus, band 41 is in widespread use in global markets as an added reason for putting it there for Sprint, besides any issue regarding Sprint's main frequency being that.

 

However, I do agree with you that it shouldn't be an issue. As I see it, all smartphones ought to have all the spectrum frequencies available, as with everything becoming more global, it just isn't smart to limit a product's usability. Yet, with this really bad trend still happening with smartphones not being compatible on all carriers, I view this as an uphill battle for T-Mobile, should they merge with Dish, where its less likely to be an issue with a bigger company like Verizon.

 

Again though, I agree this shouldn't be the case. After all, I really like the idea of DT/T-Mobile buying Dish, more so even than the situation I suspect happening with AT&T if Sprint decides to make a move on T-Mobile. My hope if DT stands its ground refusing to sell, is they will entertain a move for Dish, rather than with Sprint, leaving open the possibility Verizon might try picking up Sprint for its spectrum.

[Arysyn]

There is a new article highlighting some interesting issues that may restrict a Sprint/T-Mobile merger :

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2017/02/24/t-mobile-analyst-details-potential-snags-in-sprint.html

 

 

I've given my perspectives to this already, being that I believe the merger, no matter who controls the two combined companies, whether it be DT or Softbank, since both are foreign companies, I really doubt this merger will happen for that reason and for the reasons involving the outcome producing a combined carrier much larger in network size and spectrum assets than the two U.S.-based carriers, AT&T and Verizon. Also, while I use to support the general concept of the merger between Sprint and T-Mobile, there are other merger scenarios I not only would vastly prefer than this, but also believe will have a much greater liklihood of actually occurring.

 

For instance, the AT&T/T-Mobile merger possibility, though I admit there is much less chance of that happening if DT refuses to sell T-Mobile, doubting AT&T would do much to stop a DT takeover of Sprint whereas they'd be more competitive in keeping Softbank/Sprint from buying T-Mobile from DT. As I've thought about this more since the Open Signal reports released recently, the less favorable I am to AT&T getting T-Mobile.

 

My hope now is that DT/T-Mobile gets Dish, and competes with AT&T/DirecTv. That would put the two carriers on a very near-even scale regarding spectrum, which network size-wise T-Mobile is getting very close to matching AT&T. Having those two compete under this arrangement would be very good for consumers, and then give more likelihood to the possibility of allowing a three-carrier market with Verizon buying Sprint from Softbank seeing that Softbank seems wanting to sell Sprint pretty badly.

 

Despite giving Verizon a fairly large advantage over AT&T and Sprint, it wouldn't be quite as disproportionate as with a Sprint/T-Mobile combination. Plus, Verizon being U.S.-based would bring ownership of Sprint back to the states in this scenario. Also, Verizon would better be able to serve its large customer base with Sprint's spectrum, adding to extra competition. This paves the way for a better wireless industry open to mergers with cable companies on a more national scale. As I suspect, there likely will be more mergers going on between cable companies prior to them getting involved in wireless, so they won't be limited to selling bundles in the regional markets they currently serve, but rather nationwide, giving customers more choice.

[jroepcke51]

There is a new article highlighting some interesting issues that may restrict a Sprint/T-Mobile merger :

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2017/02/24/t-mobile-analyst-details-potential-snags-in-sprint.html

 

 

I've given my perspectives to this already, being that I believe the merger, no matter who controls the two combined companies, whether it be DT or Softbank, since both are foreign companies, I really doubt this merger will happen for that reason and for the reasons involving the outcome producing a combined carrier much larger in network size and spectrum assets than the two U.S.-based carriers, AT&T and Verizon. Also, while I use to support the general concept of the merger between Sprint and T-Mobile, there are other merger scenarios I not only would vastly prefer than this, but also believe will have a much greater liklihood of actually occurring.

 

For instance, the AT&T/T-Mobile merger possibility, though I admit there is much less chance of that happening if DT refuses to sell T-Mobile, doubting AT&T would do much to stop a DT takeover of Sprint whereas they'd be more competitive in keeping Softbank/Sprint from buying T-Mobile from DT. As I've thought about this more since the Open Signal reports released recently, the less favorable I am to AT&T getting T-Mobile.

 

My hope now is that DT/T-Mobile gets Dish, and competes with AT&T/DirecTv. That would put the two carriers on a very near-even scale regarding spectrum, which network size-wise T-Mobile is getting very close to matching AT&T. Having those two compete under this arrangement would be very good for consumers, and then give more likelihood to the possibility of allowing a three-carrier market with Verizon buying Sprint from Softbank seeing that Softbank seems wanting to sell Sprint pretty badly.

 

Despite giving Verizon a fairly large advantage over AT&T and Sprint, it wouldn't be quite as disproportionate as with a Sprint/T-Mobile combination. Plus, Verizon being U.S.-based would bring ownership of Sprint back to the states in this scenario. Also, Verizon would better be able to serve its large customer base with Sprint's spectrum, adding to extra competition. This paves the way for a better wireless industry open to mergers with cable companies on a more national scale. As I suspect, there likely will be more mergers going on between cable companies prior to them getting involved in wireless, so they won't be limited to selling bundles in the regional markets they currently serve, but rather nationwide, giving customers more choice.

Doesn't matter who is in the White House and whoever is sitting on the justice committee. Verizon getting sprint is a pipe dream.

[Jones]

Americans have benefited greatly from the FCC's decision to keep 4 Nationwide networks in the US of A. In fact, I'm not sure of a FCC policy decision that has enjoyed such a direct benefit to everyone living here.

I don't think the FCC will reverse its decision (even if Ajit Pai is in charge now) to let Sprint/T-Mobile merge because of how much investment/innovation/price reductions have occurred in the past 5 years.

I do think the FCC will work hard to ensure that there are 4 major players - in whatever form that may be.

[Arysyn]

Doesn't matter who is in the White House and whoever is sitting on the justice committee. Verizon getting sprint is a pipe dream.

I really don't know if Verizon would try or not. I don't believe so much in that as I do in the chance AT&T making another offer for T-Mobile if Sprint tries to buy T-Mobile, not in the case of DT trying to buy Sprint.

[Fraydog]

I really don't know if Verizon would try or not. I don't believe so much in that as I do in the chance AT&T making another offer for T-Mobile if Sprint tries to buy T-Mobile, not in the case of DT trying to buy Sprint.

Verizon will likely try for Comcast instead IMO. They would be better off with Comcast's entertainment and fiber assets for 5G and they can divest their remaining NE footprint of traditional Telcom and Fios to Frontier. It would greatly increase their fiber and home footprint.

 

Which, ironically enough, Frontier would be a takeover target by someone or something when taking over the old Bell Atlantic.

 

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[MacinJosh]

Verizon will likely try for Comcast instead IMO. They would be better off with Comcast's entertainment and fiber assets for 5G and they can divest their remaining NE footprint of traditional Telcom and Fios to Frontier. It would greatly increase their fiber and home footprint.

 

Which, ironically enough, Frontier would be a takeover target by someone or something when taking over the old Bell Atlantic.

 

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Verizon and Comcast would be great together! Both overcharge for service, and then it's all be under one roof. Sorry, couldn't help myself.

 

 

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[bigsnake49]

Verizon will likely try for Comcast instead IMO. They would be better off with Comcast's entertainment and fiber assets for 5G and they can divest their remaining NE footprint of traditional Telcom and Fios to Frontier. It would greatly increase their fiber and home footprint.

 

Which, ironically enough, Frontier would be a takeover target by someone or something when taking over the old Bell Atlantic.

 

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Just in case you did not notice Verizon has a massive net debt load, $105B. They can't afford to buy anybody. Merge yes and the talk is about them merging with Charter. They probably would have to ditch FIOS in places they currently compete with Charter or any other cable entity.

Edited February 26, 2017 by bigsnake49

[Arysyn]

Verizon will likely try for Comcast instead IMO. They would be better off with Comcast's entertainment and fiber assets for 5G and they can divest their remaining NE footprint of traditional Telcom and Fios to Frontier. It would greatly increase their fiber and home footprint.

 

Which, ironically enough, Frontier would be a takeover target by someone or something when taking over the old Bell Atlantic.

 

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I definitely believe Verizon will try getting Comcast, which will be a great move for them, and possibly give me a discount for combined services, which would ve great.

 

If Verizon also goes after Sprint, which I'm not completely confident in, nor do I necessarily think it would be the entire company, could be a similar situation as with Alltel. I think Verizon's main interest in Sprint would be for the spectrum, and Verizon is going to need more spectrum to keep up with its unlimited data demand.

 

I see AT&T in a better position to handle it with what they have, and of course I strongly believe if DT isn't going to sell T-Mobile, they'll go after Dish. T-Mobile is in a great position with what Open Signal reported, and it could become a very major competitor with AT&T this way forward.

[Paynefanbro]

T-Mobile is now offering anyone with 2 or more postpaid voice lines, a third line for free. Meaning you can have 3 lines for $100 after autopay discounts. The free line lasts as long as you keep the two other voice lines active and the account in good standing. 

 

https://newsroom.t-mobile.com/news-and-blogs/add-a-line-promo.htm

[afazel]

Think they'll allow it for new customers who sign up for 3 lines, they'll let them have the 3rd line for free?

[Fraydog]

T-Mobile is now offering anyone with 2 or more postpaid voice lines, a third line for free. Meaning you can have 3 lines for $100 after autopay discounts. The free line lasts as long as you keep the two other voice lines active and the account in good standing. 

 

https://newsroom.t-mobile.com/news-and-blogs/add-a-line-promo.htm

 

 

Bill credits though. 

[Arysyn]

Hear Ye, hear ye! I have an announcement! I, Arysyn, your faithful S4GRU data plan and merger analyst, have decided to do what I thought was the unthinkable for me. I have gone back to, drumroll... The Uncarrier, T-Mobile!

 

So, after all has been said and done, here is why I made this decision. T-Mobile should be releasing the much needed 5x5 700mhz spectrum here in the next few months, which they acquired for the Chicago market last year. I expect this added spectrum will be helpful enough to make T-Mobile decent and tolerable at the amazing price being offered to me I'll get into in a moment.

 

There also is the heavy chance of some form of an excellent merger opportunity for T-Mobile that is going to be a big deal for its customers, whether it is Sprint, AT&T, or my newest main thought at the moment since DT has announced that they do not want to sell T-Mobile, DT getting Dish. Or perhaps doing a deal with Dish for its spectrum in cooperation for selling its services and bundling with T-Mobile. The spectrum alone is enough to get me excited over an improved spectrum situation here. The problem with T-Mobile here in Chicago is spectrum, but certainly not towers. I know T-Mobile has a good tower placement here.

 

Anyways, the deal, and its something not even so exclusive to me this time around. Everyone knows about the deal for two lines at $100 monthly, including taxes. There also is a 20% off discount for life deal, if you can get a code from a T-Mobile employee. I'm assuming many of you know about this already, but I figured I'd mention that here anyways, especially since it applies to me. I got a code and its all set up. Normally, with the 20% off of $100 for the two lines, is $80 monthly, but on one of the two lines, my line, is going to have the Plus International add-on, so I can get unlimited 4G LTE hotspot whenever I'm at a hotel with bad WiFi, which is often. So, the 20% takes care of that added cost, leaving the total at around $100 monthly.

 

When I was with T-Mobile before, I had two lines at $45 each, totalling $90 monthly prior to tax. Now that tax is included, which is around a $10 value, it turns out to be the same price as before with tax. I'm not sure if this two line for $100 promo will still be valid with the upcoming 3rd line free deal, but if it is, I'm considering getting that for someone. Not sure who would be interested in the line, but I'm going to charge them $10 monthly for the line, which would get the total monthly cost for our T-Mobile service officially down to $90 monthly.

[Arysyn]

I forgot to mention the phone. My mother has a very good working Microsoft Lumia 950xl that I'll be using until the unlocked Sony XZ Premium becomes available, which at that time, I'll give the Lumia back to her.

[travismheim]

I forgot to mention the phone. My mother has a very good working Microsoft Lumia 950xl that I'll be using until the unlocked Sony XZ Premium becomes available, which at that time, I'll give the Lumia back to her.

I understand changing providers because of price and value, but why would you consider things such as spectrum they have yet to deploy or theoretical mergers? That's like someone switching to Sprint because they may one day finally utilize all their spectrum holdings and finish deploying the macro/small cells necessary to make it useful. It just seems like you are setting yourself up for disappointment.

 

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[gusherb]

Hear Ye, hear ye! I have an announcement! I, Arysyn, your faithful S4GRU data plan and merger analyst, have decided to do what I thought was the unthinkable for me. I have gone back to, drumroll... The Uncarrier, T-Mobile!

 

Why am I not surprised lol. The 3/$100 deal plus the 20% discount if one can obtain a code is a deal too good to pass up though. I'd consider putting up with their shortcomings for service that cheap, but one of the lines on the Verizon account has a DPP attached and waiting for the credits to show up for the $10 iPhone deal. Canceling now means forfeiting the credits and paying full price for a 256 gig iP7, so I think I'll stay put and enjoy my good coverage.

[Arysyn]

I understand changing providers because of price and value, but why would you consider things such as spectrum they have yet to deploy or theoretical mergers? That's like someone switching to Sprint because they may one day finally utilize all their spectrum holdings and finish deploying the macro/small cells necessary to make it useful. It just seems like you are setting yourself up for disappointment.

 

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The 700mhz spectrum is fairly soon to be deployed and since I know 5x5 lowband spectrum helped quite well around here on Sprint, I figure it will on T-Mobile in those same bad areas where the AWS and PCS areas were weak. One of the things I forgot to consider when explaining here about my mother's dwindling voice prepaid service with Tmo, is hearing how Tmo has been reallocating spectrum away from the bands here phone uses. That could be having an affect.

 

The issue of hoping for the mergers is possible that it might not happen, and being a letdown. I certainly acknowledge that possibility. However, I also can't deny T-Mobile is really starting to get big with its promos and more news talks about its merger possibilities that make it look as if its being primed for a big merger. I know that'll help alot, and like investing in the stock market, I know I'm taking a purchasing risk at the hope for this expansion.

[Arysyn]

Why am I not surprised lol. The 3/$100 deal plus the 20% discount if one can obtain a code is a deal too good to pass up though. I'd consider putting up with their shortcomings for service that cheap, but one of the lines on the Verizon account has a DPP attached and waiting for the credits to show up for the $10 iPhone deal. Canceling now means forfeiting the credits and paying full price for a 256 gig iP7, so I think I'll stay put and enjoy my good coverage.

gusherb, did you switch from AT&T to Verizon as I did?

 

Verizon has a very good network around us, though the phone I had was having issues and billing/setup went wrong. My mother was getting frustrated by it, until she seemed quite relieved when I mentioned this T-Mobile deal. It all seemed to happen at just the right time, so we went for it. I'm still getting excellent home internet service using Comcast/Xfinity's Extreme 300 plan ever since AT&T messed up on my Uverse home internet upgrade, which is why we left AT&T.

[gusherb]

gusherb, did you switch from AT&T to Verizon as I did?

Verizon has a very good network around us, though the phone I had was having issues and billing/setup went wrong. My mother was getting frustrated by it, until she seemed quite relieved when I mentioned this T-Mobile deal. It all seemed to happen at just the right time, so we went for it. I'm still getting excellent home internet service using Comcast/Xfinity's Extreme 300 plan ever since AT&T messed up on my Uverse home internet upgrade, which is why we left AT&T.

I've been with Verizon for awhile, took advantage of the 2 GB bonus per line offer and get an 18% discount. I don't think I'll be going to UDP for now. Service is night and day compared to the shit I put up with on AT&T over here.

[Arysyn]

I've been with Verizon for awhile, took advantage of the 2 GB bonus per line offer and get an 18% discount. I don't think I'll be going to UDP for now. Service is night and day compared to the shit I put up with on AT&T over here.

Sounds like AT&T got bad for you. I don't even know why this happened with them, but the Uverse home internet service they have just suddenly got really bad after the upgrade I made, prompting me to switch out to Verizon, and now back with T-Mobile. If you do get the UDP wuth Verizon and decide to have autopay, make sure to get an honest response. Verizon's network definitely is good here, but the sales reps seem really bad, at least from my recent experience. I'm even tempted to say worse than Sprint store reps, as the Verizon store manager my mother spoke with gave her a very shady excuse for the billing problems.

[gusherb]

Sounds like AT&T got bad for you. I don't even know why this happened with them, but the Uverse home internet service they have just suddenly got really bad after the upgrade I made, prompting me to switch out to Verizon, and now back with T-Mobile. If you do get the UDP wuth Verizon and decide to have autopay, make sure to get an honest response. Verizon's network definitely is good here, but the sales reps seem really bad, at least from my recent experience. I'm even tempted to say worse than Sprint store reps, as the Verizon store manager my mother spoke with gave her a very shady excuse for the billing problems.

Yeah I had a bad run in with telesales reps. Rule of thumb; try to do as much as you can on your own with that stuff.

[reedacus25]

I forgot to mention the phone. My mother has a very good working Microsoft Lumia 950xl that I'll be using until the unlocked Sony XZ Premium becomes available, which at that time, I'll give the Lumia back to her.

For reference, as I'm sure you know, that very good working Lumia 950 is very good at not working with VoLTE and wifi Calling on T-Mobile you're going to be using it on.

 

So don't expect the very best service, especially with the voice issues you have had.

 

Just pointing out that you're not doing yourself any favors in setting yourself up for success with that device.

 

 

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[Arysyn]

For reference, as I'm sure you know, that very good working Lumia 950 is very good at not working with VoLTE and wifi Calling on T-Mobile you're going to be using it on.

 

So don't expect the very best service, especially with the voice issues you have had.

 

Just pointing out that you're not doing yourself any favors in setting yourself up for success with that device.

 

 

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While it seems fairly definitive WiFi calling doesn't work using the Lumia 950xl, there are mixed reports regarding VoLTE. Some more recent posts I've read suggests it works, while the others say otherwise. I'll have to see what happens when we get the sim cards Wednesday. Thank you for the information!

[Fraydog]

While it seems fairly definitive WiFi calling doesn't work using the Lumia 950xl, there are mixed reports regarding VoLTE. Some more recent posts I've read suggests it works, while the others say otherwise. I'll have to see what happens when we get the sim cards Wednesday. Thank you for the information!

You just missed the GS7 promo. That would have been the best RF performance device for her. Keep your eyes peeled. T-Mobile has a history of repeating promotions.

 

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