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  1. It appears network Vision is ACTUALLY progressing in NYC. I just got great speeds from a tower where I normally get 600-800kbps. I can see the panels from my window, but I never noticed anyone changing them and I can't remember if there are any new ones. Do any of these look like NV? I think the two big huge ones (lower) might be new. This is at the corner of 70th and York Avenue, a tower that was supposed to go live this month.
  2. I enjoy hearing the updates from people who are seeing traces of LTE here and there in the DC market. Please keep your comments within the confines of decency as presecribed by the forum rules.
  3. I recently went on an 8 day cruise from NYC to the Caribbean that stopped in Turks and Caicos, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. My first stop was Grand Turk and there I opted for the free roaming. My S9+ automatically connected to Flow's (Cable & Wireless) LTE network where I received speeds of around 120kbps on average with boosts of up to 150kbps. Something worth noting is that on speed tests, the server prefers to default to Sprint's Miami server as opposed to local servers. Speeds were more than adequate for any amount of web browsing and honestly felt much faster than in reality. It helps that using Chrome will save you data by not loading pictures on certain sites unless you click them. In Puerto Rico, I connected to Band 13 on the way into the port in San Juan but once I was in the city, my phone never left Band 41. While the phone was usable, speeds remained significantly lower than what I've come to expect from 3xCA in the mainland U.S. Data speeds peaked at around 25-30Mbos but on average were in the 5-10 Mbps range even on LTE+. Signal remained strong everywhere though. Finally in the Dominican Republic, I entered in Amber Cover which is in Puerto Plata. My phone latched onto a weak Band 2 LTE signal in the port from Altice (called Orange Dominicana in SignalCheck). I had trouble loading pages though. Once off of the ship and out in the open, I had a much stronger signal which allowed me to browse the internet without a hitch. Because it was the last day of my trip, while at the beach I decided to purchase the 24 hour high speed pass for $5. My speeds went from 120kbps to 65Mbps in less than 5 seconds. In some areas speeds were slower, particularly at the port where it struggled to break 2Mbps. Now, back on the boat my phone is flipping between weak Band 4 LTE and overloaded Band 5 HSPA+ from Claro (called Verizon Dominicana in SignalCheck Pro). Here is the difference in speed from before and after purchasing the high speed pass.
  4. Specifically Metro West area, seeing some really good EVDO numbers. 2.00+ down ~0.6-1.1 up. Sitting at home. Tower info: Operator 310 05116 NID: 27 BID: 4419 Signal: -88dBm Current phone: HTC EVO 4G LTE, PRI 2.45_003, BB 1.05.11.0606, PRL 12124 MeanROM 3.0
  5. I notice a lot of post regarding the markets in IL,FL,TX,PA,NYC.... but how about about the Los Angeles market? I THINK it was samsung doing the set up for the L.A market? Not sure though.... I'm not a sponsor member of the site so I can't really check... if I had a job I'd most definitely donate! Couple of months ago the local towers were all down and being upgraded to NV I assume since Larry from Howard forums said there was NV work being done my zip code. The speeds were better for a bit but now they are awful again. Can anyone (most preferred Robert) make a comment on if there is any LTE activity near 90255 area code? Thanks, great site by the way... I'm a Lurker.
  6. Even though Sprint doesn't have the best coverage in my area. I do have lots of memories and nostalgia with the company. I wonder who else here will miss Sprint besides me?
  7. Tim YuSprint 4G Rollout UpdatesTuesday, May 7, 2019 - 12:00 PM PDT For weeks, rumors have been circulating that Verizon's carrier exclusivity deal to sell Google Pixel devices was ending and other carriers, such as Sprint, will offer them in addition to direct sales from Google. S4GRU has been able to attain information that this is indeed correct and that Sprint will soon be selling Pixel 3, Pixel 3XL, Pixel 3a, and Pixel 3a XL devices. [Google has has announced that Sprint, in addition to other carriers, are selling the device. Source.] Sprint's internal systems have been updated with the devices information and retail stores are receiving shipping information notifying them of the imminent arrival of the Pixel devices. Pricing 1. Pixel 3: $799 2. Pixel 3 XL: $929 3. Pixel 3a: $399 4. Pixel 3a XL: $479 Modem Specifications Pixel 3 GSM 850 / 1900 WCDMA Bands: 2 / 4 / 5 CDMA Band Class: 0 / 1 / 10 LTE Bands: 2 / 4 / 5 / 7 / 12 / 13 / 17 / 25 / 26 / 29 / 30 / 38 / 41 / 48 / 66 / 71 Carrier Aggregation Combinations 2xCA B41 2xCA B25 3xCA B41 4xCA B41 B25 + B26 B25 + B41 Pixel 3 XL GSM 850 / 1900 WCDMA Bands: 2 / 4 / 5 CDMA Band Class: 0 / 1 / 10 LTE Bands: 2 / 4 / 5 / 7 / 12 / 13 / 17 / 25 / 26 / 29 / 30 / 38 / 41 / 48 / 66 / 71 Carrier Aggregation Combinations 2xCA B41 2xCA B25 3xCA B41 4xCA B41 B25 + B26 B25 + B41 Pixel 3a GSM 850 / 1900 WCDMA Bands: 2 / 4 / 5 CDMA Band Class: 0 / 1 / 10 LTE Bands: 2 / 4 / 5 / 7 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 17 / 25 / 26 / 29 / 30 / 38 / 41 / 48 / 66 / 71 Carrier Aggregation Combinations 2xCA 41 3xCA 41 2xCA B25 B25 + B26 2xCA B25 + B26 B25 + B41 B26 + B41 Pixel 3a XL GSM 850 / 1900 WCDMA Bands: 2 / 4 / 5 CDMA Band Class: 0 / 1 / 10 LTE Bands: 2 / 4 / 5 / 7 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 17 / 25 / 26 / 29 / 30 / 38 / 41 / 48 / 66 / 71 Carrier Aggregation Combinations 2xCA 41 3xCA 41 2xCA B25 B25 + B26 2xCA B25 + B26 B25+ B41 B26 +B41 In addition, Sprint has also recently enabled Pixel 3's eSIM support which is likely to be also true with the Pixel 3a devices when it launches. This means there is no need to seek out the correct SIM card for the device to activate it, though a physical sim card is still an alternate option and the S4GRU SIM Card spreadsheet has been updated to include the 3a and 3a XL devices. Pixel ESIM activation guide 1. Connect device to WiFi 2. Go to Settings, Network & internet, Mobile network, Advanced, Carrier. Alternatively search "carrier" in settings 3. Tap "Add Carrier" 4. Login to Sprint Account and select device to receive one time activation code to continue. Select line to activate Pixel on. 5. Pixel should now be activated. ** If ESIM capable Pixel is already activated on line with a SIM card, you may have to activate another Sprint device in its place before you can undergo the ESIM activation steps ** Credit to ingenium for the ESIM guide Pixel 3 G013A, Pixel 3 XL G013C, Pixel 3a G020A, Pixel 3a XL G020G
  8. i wanted to know what round will maryland be in and is nv going underway in this market right now i have seen speeds 1.5 to 2 megs down consistantly before it was under 600 kps so i wanted to ask
  9. Ericsson RRUS31 B25 + RRUS11 B26 These are the newest and greatest remote radio units to come from Ericsson. The new Ericsson RRUS31 B25 should be fairly distinctive compared to the earlier RRUS11s and now the RRUS12s being deployed by ATT and Verizon. One of these new RRUS31s can do the job of two earlier RRUS11s thus reducing deployment costs for Sprint and complexity in deploying new sites and making it easier for users to spot as there are now 4 jumpers coming out of one RRUS31 rather than two from each RRUS11 that Ericsson originally deployed. All future deployments will be utilizing the new Ericsson RRUS31s. In addition Ericsson are sending crews to their original deployments and swapping out older RRUS11s for these new RRUS31s due to the aforementioned fact that one RRUS31 can do the job of 2 RRUS11s. Weight savings will be significant at sites where there are 4 or 5 RRUS11 B25s that can be replaced by one or 2 RRUS31s. The Ericsson RRUS31 deployment project is known as the 65 Mhz Project. Ericsson RRUS11 B26 top and RRUS31 B25 bottom Ericsson High Capacity / 4x4/2 MIMO Deployment Note the additional antenna + PCS radio. Previously Ericsson utilized additional PCS radios and used RF combiners for high capacity setups where they utilized three or more PCS radios. This new setup will utilize a completey new antenna + radio set just like Samsung and run 4x2 MIMO on the LTE antenna / radio set. Ericsson RRUS11 B25 [EOL'd] and B26 A standard Ericsson Network Vision 1.0 site with 3 RRUS11s where two are dedicated to PCS and one to SMR. This type of setup is no longer deployed or utilized in new sites. Existing sites will be slowly converted to newer RRUS31 B25 via the Sprint 65 mhz project. Ericsson NV high capacity site [EOL'd] 3 or 4 PCS RRUs are present for a total of 4 or 5 RRUS11s per antenna. Close up of Antennas Ericsson cabinets (center) All credit to those who took the photographs. They know who they are!
  10. With Todays announcement that T-Mobile and Sprint are merging, and the announcement of the T-Mobile Sprint Roaming deal that will survive and will last for four years regardless if the merger is completed or not, which is effect immediately as stated in the conference call and the slides made available. So I thought I'd create this to see if anyone has been able to use their Sprint device on T-Mobile roaming yet. And of course if not, once you do, come back here and say you have. Personally I'm not bothering with anything until after the coverage map is updated again, hopefully to reflect the T-Mobile roaming. And of course if you are able to roam onto T-Mobile what kind of speeds are you pulling, and on what device. Also for those that are unaware, the T-Mobile Sprint Roaming agreement that was announced as part of todays merger announcement is a roaming agreement for Sprint customers to roam onto T-Mobile for 4 years and takes affect immediately, yes right now, regardless if the merger completes or not. Surely it's a stepping stone to integrating the networks by getting Sprint devices that are capable, which according to the conference call is 20 Million Sprint devices ready to be used on the T-Mobile network full time once deal is approved by the regulators and finally completed.
  11. I'm new to this forum, and I've seen people mention cell sites with specific ID's (for example, SF33XC664). Is there any significance to these ID's, and is there a way to decode them? Also, how do I figure out what the cell site ID's are for towers near me? Thanks! I'm excited to start talking on this site more 😀
  12. Sprint announced at MWC trade show in Barcelona that 5G will go live with 4 cities starting in May (Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas and Kansas City ) https://phys.org/news/2019-02-sprint-5g-network-chicago-atlanta.html
  13. Hey Everyone I apologize in advanced if there is a thread for this. I looked (yes, even with search) to find a thread regarding the south bay market. I am certain there is one since there was a topic regarding the first LTE sightings in Palo Alto and Cupertino, California. Anyways. I just wanted to know if there are any new updates to NV for these areas. Specificially for Salinas, CA and King City CA (zip codes: 93905,93906, 93901,93930) I ask because I have debated on either switching completely to T-Mobile or just suspend my Sprint line for 6 months and wish for the best at the end of that timeframe. Just pure drama right now with Sprint Tech Support.
  14. Samsung Network Vision equipment are highly distinct and fairly easy to spot compared to the equipment that other vendors are deploying. Sprint is Samsung's first extremely massive American contract (baring Clearwire) so there should be no issues in confusing these equipment for another carrier which happens often with Ericsson NV equipment. Below are images of Samsung equipment which includes antennas, remote radio units, base stations, and their mounting configurations. Samsung antenna with eSMR 800 RRU & PCS 1900 RRU A close look at a Samsung setup Next Generation Samsung Configuration RRH-P4 4T4R 1.9 GHz | RRH-C4 4T4R 800 MHz| RRH-V3 2.5 GHz Next Generation 8 Port Dual Band Antenna Setup 4 port 800 MHz RRH-C4 800 (source: dkyeager) (source: dkyeager) Narrow beam setup High Capacity Site with 2 Antennas & 3 RRUs (2x PCS & 1x SMR). Second antenna is PCS only for now. Canadian IBEZ (NO SMR) Special Case PCS Only Setup for Canadian IBEZ Close up of standard antenna connectors Samsung Cabinets Powerpoint slides from Samsung / Sprint *disclaimer - all powerpoint diagrams and images were found through public municipality online databases and is by no means misappropriated through malicious means* *Credit goes to those whom took pictures of these equipment. You know who you are*
  15. Sprint announced the MVNO Google Fi will use its network for 5G in a press release (that is, once there are actually 5G capable phones compatible with Google Fi someday): https://newsroom.sprint.com/sprint-to-provide-5g-wireless-services-for-google-fi.htm This is the first I've heard about Fi and 5G so far. Google has pretty much kept mum on the topic, so I'm somewhat encouraged.
  16. Tim YuSprint 4G Rollout UpdatesThursday, August 2, 2018 - 12:01 PM PDT It's been a long time coming for Sprint through many trials and tribulations. Now it's finally here! S4GRU was able to obtain confirmations that Sprint is finally ready and prepared to enable Voice over LTE (VoLTE) for subscribers to manually opt into in select markets across the country this coming September. See list at the bottom. As a refresher here are some of the essential points about VoLTE applicable to Sprint: Calls placed over VoLTE will have the QOS tag unlike the current Calling Plus configuration on numerous Sprint devices Like Calling Plus, VoLTE will have no fallback to the legacy 1x voice network. Calls will drop if the LTE signal drops. The voice codec is AMR-WB which one can experience with Calling Plus calls and matches the other carriers VoLTE setups. At this point and time S4GRU does not have a list of compatible VoLTE devices though we do speculate that any device currently running Calling Plus should be able to tap into that very same IMS core Calling Plus utilizes via true VoLTE. In addition, recent Apple iPhone's seems like a sure bet as some users have already experienced VoLTE in live field tests conducted by Sprint. For the non Sprint branded BYOD devices like Google Pixels or unlocked Moto devices the future is quite murky indeed. Sprint VoLTE Soft Launch Market Map See this for map of all Sprint market boundaries Sprint VoLTE Soft Launch Markets .tg {border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:0;} .tg td{font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;padding:10px 5px;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;overflow:hidden;word-break:normal;border-color:black;} .tg th{font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-weight:normal;padding:10px 5px;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;overflow:hidden;word-break:normal;border-color:black;} .tg .tg-wk8r{background-color:#ffffff;border-color:#ffffff;text-align:center;vertical-align:top} Atlanta / Athens Austin Baltimore Boston Central Jersey Chicago Cincinnati Cleveland Colorado Columbus DFW East Kentucky East Michigan Ft. Wayne / South Bend Houston Idaho Indianapolis Kansas LA Metro Las Vegas Long Island Miami / West Palm Milwaukee Minnesota Missouri Nashville New York City Norfolk North Wisconsin Northern Jersey Oklahoma Oregon / SW Washington Orlando Philadelphia Metro Phoenix Pittsburgh Richmond San Antonio SF Bay South Bay South Texas Southern Jersey Tampa Toledo Upper Central Valley Utah Washington DC West Iowa / Nebraska West Virginia
  17. Nokia Networks (formerly Nokia Solutions & Network [NSN]) FZHJ Flexi Multiradio 10 BTS RF module 2.6ghz Model: VBNFZHJ-01 / FZHN Assigned Vendor Region Full Build Ericsson upgraded Network Vision + Nokia 8T8R setup Special Case "Tri-Band Antenna" Setup Deployed for engineering reasons these sites do not deploy a dedicated 8T8R antenna for 2.5 but instead opts for a three frequency antenna that supports 800 MHz + 1900 MHz and 2500 MHz. Due to size constraints for the antennas they limit the 8T8R RRUs to 4T4R mode (4 Jumpers from radios to antennas). TongYu Communications 8T8R B41 Antenna http://imgur.com/xvR0hM1,8nLlcNl,TH1DAPQ,27czk4F,nseX8ny,TgYyayY,KCcGjJD,woQUvCr#6http://imgur.com/a/3T7cr http://imgur.com/OzGC0V6,SaOBaoD,TZgzfRS,a56e35L,fcEgMxA,GUR14cz,fWXwMGc#0 FCC Link
  18. Tim YuSprint 4G Rollout UpdatesWednesday, September 12, 2018 - 12:45 PM PDT [Edit] It has come to the attention of S4GRU that the Magic Box also supports CDMA Voice Today, Sprint announced the newest Magic Box™ to the world. This Magic Box was first spotted in early summer and S4GRU did a quick write up on it here. Today's announcement formally revealed what new technologies this 3rd Generation public release will give to us. The highlights: This is some huge stuff here especially for technology nerds! Previous Magic Box's only utilized LTE UE Relay for backhaul up to 2 carrier aggregation at 2x2 MIMO at 64 QAM modulation. With 3 CA, 256 QAM, and 4x4 MIMO, this new Magic Box has the same capability as a Gigabit Class device on the Sprint™ network! In addition the notes about Wi-FI connection working for backhaul are huge. Sprint Band 25 or Band 41 may not reach indoors or even in some neighborhoods due to macro coverage patterns even though a Magic Box is available to use in a region. By having the option to use locally supplied internet via WiFi as backhaul, this allows Magic Boxes to enter locations where LTE UE Relay does not work. In addition, the ethernet port tidbit may also be a hint that using ethernet backhaul could also be an option. If so, this Magic Box would potentially support 3 choices of backhaul all in one unit; LTE UE Relay, WiFi, and Ethernet! Wow! With the coming arrival of VoLTE opt in in the near future, LTE coverage indoors is a huge concern. The now expanded reach of this new Magic Box into places previously unreachable is a huge step forward. Exciting! Sprint and Airspan sure loves Magic!
  19. Seth GoodwinSprint 4G Rollout UpdatesMonday, April 30, 2018 - 5:00 PM PDT After three previous attempts during the past four years, something many thought may never happen actually did. On Sunday April 29, T-Mobile announced they were effectively acquiring Sprint in an all stock deal, combining the third and fourth largest carriers in the U.S. wireless market. Pending regulatory approval, the merger is targeted for closing in the first half of 2019. The Deal The deal using an exchange ratio of 0.10256 Sprint shares for each T-Mobile share valued Sprint at approximately $26.5 billion (plus the assumption of Sprint’s $30+ billion in debt) or $6.62 per share using T-Mobile’s Friday closing price of $64.52. The combined company “New T-Mobile” will be owned 41.7% by Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile's parent company. 27.4% of the company will be owned by Sprint's parent company SoftBank, with the remaining 30.9% owned by the general public and institutional investors. According to terms of the deal announced by both companies in a joint press release, the combined T-Mobile will retain two headquarters in Bellevue, Washington and Overland Park, Kansas. Current T-Mobile CEO John Legere will retain that role at the new company. T-Mobile’s Mike Sievert will serve as President and COO. No Sprint executives were announced to the management team at this time. Deutsche Telekom's Timotheus Höttges will serve as chairman of the company's board of directors, and DT will have 9 seats on the board compared to SoftBank's 4. Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure, and SoftBank Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son will occupy two of SoftBank’s seats. As opposed to the famous T-Mobile/AT&T attempted tie up several years ago, this deal does not include a breakup fee should the merger fail to pass regulatory approval. Rather, Sprint has independently signed a roaming agreement with T-Mobile for four years that will continue regardless of the outcome of the merger. On the analyst call for the merger announcement Marcelo Claure said this would take effect immediately. As of the time this article was published, specific details pertaining to the roaming agreement and any actual known roaming connections have yet to materialize. The Plan Sprint and T-Mobile will continue operating separately until the conclusion of the merger, something that in and of itself raises multiple questions about this coming year. Hopefully we'll gain some more insights with Sprint's upcoming FY 2017/4th quarter earnings call. Assuming approval, the companies announced that they intend on spending up to $40 billion in the first three years on capital expenditures and consolidating operations into a single entity. According to the press release, this represents almost 50% more than what Sprint and T-Mobile combined had spent over the past three years. At the time of closing, the companies estimate that Sprint and T-Mobile will have approximately 110,000 macro cell towers. Of these, around 35,000 will be decommissioned due to co-location or other redundancies. 10,000 new sites will be added leaving New T-Mobile with approximately 85,000 macro sites. Within the first three years of a combined company it is also estimated that the carrier will have over 50,000 small cells independent of magic boxes. The two carriers currently have around 10,000 combined. The stated plan is to “use T-Mobile as the anchor network” and use selected Sprint “keep” sites to add coverage and density. At a minimum, Sprint’s BRS/EBS 2.5 GHz spectrum will be added to T-Mobile’s sites and T-Mobile’s “full spectrum portfolio” will be deployed on Sprint’s “keep” sites. At face value, this would point toward mainly decommissioning Sprint sites as part of the 35,000-macro site reduction. In actuality we'll see what they do. For example all things equal, if two sites are co-located the greater synergies are in eliminating the tower rack with less favorable lease terms or worse rack location. VoLTE and Two-dot-Five The conference call noted while the goal is to migrate Sprint's CDMA customers to VoLTE as soon as possible, with 20 million Sprint customers having T-Mobile compatible handsets on day one. The intention is to have the total migration to T-Mobile completed over a three-year period without “degrading experience on Sprint’s network.” This suggests at a minimum keeping Sprint’s 1x800 voice service active during the transition as well as a deliberate coordinated process for overall decommissioning of macro sites. The other thing to watch going forward in this area is that T-Mobile makes no mention in their investor presentation toward utilizing anything other than Sprint’s 2.5 spectrum on their sites. A Sprint T-Mobile merger would create a spectrum behemoth with holdings ranging from T-Mobile’s low band 600 MHz for building penetration and rural coverage all the way through Sprint’s 2.5 GHz for capacity and speed. On Sunday, executives announced they have no intention of divesting any spectrum. However, questions remain on issues like what does a company that already possesses 600 MHz and 700 MHz LTE spectrum do with 800 MHz? How do T-Mobile and Sprint independently spend CapEx this year without diminishing merger synergies? We at S4GRU plan on potentially analyzing a combined company’s significant aggregate spectrum situation in a separate article at a later date. According to the investor information provided, the combined company is estimated to have run rate cost synergies in excess of $6 billion annually or on a net present value basis in excess of $43 billion. $26 billion NPV or $4 billion annually of these annual savings would be derived from network consolidation and CapEx synergies. Additional savings could come from consolidation of operations including store closing and eliminating corporate redundancies. From Sprint’s perspective these savings would be significant. The carrier has not turned a profit in the past 10 years. However, with these savings (even a portion of these savings) the carrier hypothetically would have been profitable all 10 years. Regulatory Hurdles This merger is not a done deal by any means. It faces regulatory scrutiny from the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Under the administration of former President Barack Obama, AT&T and T-Mobile attempted to merge only to be shot down by the government. Sprint and T-Mobile were reportedly told not to even try four years ago. The prior administration's thinking had constantly been that by allowing any combination of the big 4 U.S. wireless carriers to merge into three, consolidation would negatively impact the average consumer due to lower competition in the market. On the conference call Marcelo Claure noted that regulatory approval is “the elephant in the room.” Claure and Legere are expected to embark on a tour of Washington D.C. to try and gain favor for the merger later this week. Much has changed in Washington since Sprint and T-Mobile’s last attempt at a tie-up, but whether or not a merger is anywhere close to a guarantee to pass remains in limbo. President Donald Trump has positioned himself as a pro-business President, meeting with Masa Son shortly after his election. And while Trump’s FCC chairman Ajit Pai has made comments signaling he may be more open to market consolidation than his predecessors; President Trump’s DOJ is simultaneously attempting to block AT&T’s acquisition of Time Warner. Claure and Legere noted that they had talked to Pai, but had yet to talk to anyone at the DOJ prior to announcing the merger. The Sell With nothing guaranteed, selling this merger to the government and the public is going to be the key factor on whether or not it ultimately gets approved. Sprint and T-Mobile executives wasted no time in starting on Sunday launching the pro merger site allfor5g.com. Legere and Claure continued touting the merger in a series of interviews and television appearances Sunday night and Monday morning. Based on early results, the argument for the merger is fairly crafted towards its intended audience. The crux of T-Mobile and Sprint’s contention is that 5G is the future, and the future is costly. Both companies maintain a 3rd stronger carrier is better than 4 carriers in a market, two of which are at a capital disadvantage. Claure noted that, “It’s a very simple rule of business---both companies need each other.” Sprint has 2.5 GHz spectrum that will be optimal for 5G but lacks the financial resources to deploy its own. A new T-Mobile benefits from the 2.5 GHz spectrum, a larger combined customer base, financial synergies, and greater economies of scale to effectively deploy 5G. Legere noted their goal to eventually be able to provide 450 Mbit/s speeds consistently everywhere. The 5G argument is significant for a couple of reasons. The first is the current administration has made 5G a quasi-national security issue. The merger of Qualcomm and Broadcom was blocked partially on the grounds of China taking the lead in 5G, and it was widely reported at one point that the Trump administration was considering nationalizing 5G out of security concerns with China. The goal here is that if you let New T-Mobile happen they contend that they will be in a position to deliver 5G rapidly, creating a sense of urgency that a deal needs to be approved sooner than later. If you don’t let them combine they aren’t in the same position to make that happen. They also contended that 5G would allow for the innovators of the future, a not so thinly veiled overall economic development message. The other major 5G argument centers on rural expansion. For a long-time wireless rural cell service and rural broadband have been an important political and economic development issue. Historically rural service has lagged as the infrastructure cost to deliver service far exceeds any revenue operators can hope to recoup. Legere and Claure have immediately been pushing the notion that a merger would allow the combined carrier to bring rural broadband across the nation (as well as creating jobs in rural areas during the network deployment). Lastly, their final argument centers around job creation. Typically, one of the reasons companies merge is that you can save money by eliminating duplicate positions within two separate organizations. Legere on Sunday claimed that this merger would create “thousands of American jobs” with 200,000 people working either directly for or on behalf of a combined entity. This likely faces more regulatory scrutiny than some of the other pro-merger arguments, as again typically mergers result in overall contraction. Furthermore, Sprint on its own announced several hundred layoffs within the past few months. Why now? In the near term, the FCC at some point soon is going to impose a quiet period forbidding anyone that is participating in this fall’s spectrum auction (an auction Sprint and T-Mobile are seeking a waiver for to jointly coordinate bidding strategies) from discussing mergers. Additionally, the longer the wait is, it is likely some of the merger synergies would be eliminated. Sprint towers that are redundant to T-Mobile are not to Sprint itself. If Sprint's executive team was to be believed, Sprint was poised to spend $5 to 6 billion on Capex each of the next three years. Undoubtedly some of that, a potentially significant portion, would've been on towers T-Mobile has no interest in retaining. Slightly longer term, if there was ever a presidential administration to try this under it is this one. Much like this merger's outcome President Trump's re-election is far from a certainty. If a Democratic administration were to come back to Washington D.C. odds of any merger approval diminish significantly. Longer term yet, Sprint hasn’t turned a profit in 10 years. Marcelo Claure has done a more than admirable job at steering the ship during his four-year tenure: cutting costs, coming up with creative cost-effective network deployment strategies, etc. However, at some point access to traditional borrowing markets may have been cutoff due to Sprint's inability to generate a profit or even consistent free cash flows. It didn’t appear imminent given their two-time borrowing this year, but the company has over $27 billion in debt due over the next 6 years. It is pretty easy to envision a scenario where bond investors said times up. Beyond that, the simple burden of debt may have become so overwhelming that even if it didn't threaten the going concern of the company, it negatively impacted capital expenditures, something we've seen recently. Long-term is actually the story of the past 5+ years. Sprint has incredible spectrum assets, but it needed someone more financially able and willing to deploy them. SoftBank through either inability to act due to debt covenants with Japanese banks lending it money or through deliberate choice—in hindsight was never the savior it seemed. On paper, this merger should seemingly create a financially healthy company that finally is able to leverage Sprint's vast spectrum assets. However, as in the past, time will tell... Source: 5gforall- https://allfor5g.com/
  20. Hi everybody I would figure I would start a Sprint volte launch thread. please keep the let's please keep it on topic.
  21. by Jeff Foster Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Friday, April 20, 2012 - 11:31 AM MDT Is there a "spectrum shortage?" Those two words send shivers down the spines of wireless industry executives. New services demand ever more spectrum, and, the story goes, there simply isn't enough spectrum available. An Internet search engine will easily find hundreds of thousands of links to the term "spectrum shortage." Many claim that it will be the downfall of America. The dwindling availability of a finite resource that can't be seen or touched threatens to possibly disrupt the mobile lifestyle that virtually every American has embraced. Dropped cellphone calls, delayed text messages and choppy video streams could become more frequent occurrences because the airwaves on which that data travel are nearing capacity at a time when mobile usage shows no signs of slowing. Federal regulators and industry players are searching for ways to fend off the supply-and-demand collision. Dish Network recently acquired a large block of vacant wireless spectrum that pending regulatory approval could be used for mobile broadband services. Short-Term Plan AT&T tried to merge with T-Mobile to solve its own capacity problem. It wanted to get its hands on T-Mobile spectrum. Still, that would have been only a temporary fix at best. Remember all the terrible stories about the quality of AT&T's wireless data network over the last few years? They say they simply don't have enough. The reason is that during the last few years, smartphones like the Apple iPhone and the many devices running Android emerged, and wireless data traffic grew like crazy. This problem jumped up and bit AT&T in the rear end. Suddenly, so many people were sucking so much data that the network could not handle it, due to spectrum shortage. Spectrum is like the size of the hose, and a wider hose is needed to carry more data for more customers. A couple good things are suddenly happening that may give carriers a little time to solve this increasing problem. Perhaps Verizon starting to sell the iPhone last spring has something to do with it. If so, then now with Sprint selling the iPhone, AT&T will have more breathing room, at least temporarily. That's the good news. However, that reprieve will only last a short while before the exploding smartphone and wireless data growth catches up. Then the other carriers will be faced with the same problem that's confronting AT&T. In the first quarter of 2011, the amount of data the average smartphone user consumed each month grew by 89 percent to 435 megabytes from 230 MB during the same quarter in 2010, according to Nielsen research. That's up from about 90 MB in 2009. For reference, the average size of an MP3 music file is about 4 MB. "Texting has always been traditionally viewed as a lightweight consumer of bandwidth, but if I start adding videos and pictures to my texts, that also starts consuming more bandwidth," said Tom Cullen, an executive vice president with Dish. But the primary growth driver will be video. Consumers can go through 5 gigabytes a month simply by streaming 10 minutes of standard definition video daily, he said. Data use is skyrocketing Data from the FCC indicate that more Americans are looking at their phones rather than talking on them. In 2009, 67 percent of available spectrum was utilized for voice and 33 percent for Internet data. Those percentages are now at 75 percent for data and 25 percent for voice. With each new iPhone release, data consumption grows. The iPhone 4S eats up twice as much data as the iPhone 4 and three times as much as the iPhone 3G, according to a study by network services firm Arieso. The new iPhone features Siri, a bandwidth-heavy voice recognition feature. The FCC estimates the U.S. will face a spectrum deficit of 90 MHz in 2013 and 275 MHz in 2014. To address the crunch, the federal government hopes to unleash 500 MHz of spectrum currently used for other purposes for wireless broadband by 2020. To put that figure in perspective, there is currently 547 MHz of spectrum allocated for mobile services, and AT&T and Verizon each own about 90 MHz. The government plans to hold so-called incentive auctions, which will try to lure spectrum owners such as TV broadcasters to sell their licenses. Verizon Wireless has agreed to purchase spectrum from a group of cable-TV companies. Sprint has expressed interest in working with Dish, which acquired the bulk of its 45 MHz of spectrum through two deals for bankrupt satellite technology companies. Dish chairman Charlie Ergen has said that the satellite-TV provider would prefer to partner with an existing wireless carrier on a high speed, 4G network. In response to recent comments by Sprint Chief Financial Officer Joe Euteneuer about the company's interest in working with Dish, Cullen said other wireless carriers are in the same situation. After failing to acquire T-Mobile, analysts expect AT&T to make a play for Dish, a long-rumored merger partner. As for T-Mobile, perhaps the most logical buyer is CenturyLink. T-Mobile's German-based parent company has indicated that it might exit the U.S. market. CenturyLink, which acquired Denver-based Qwest last year, is the third-largest landline phone company but does not own a wireless service, unlike the top two, AT&T and Verizon. Carriers are trying to offload as much traffic as they can to Wi-Fi networks, which ride on unlicensed spectrum. In some areas, they're installing picocells, which are smaller cell sites that can help boost capacity in dense areas. Finally, they're spending billions of dollars on LTE networks that use the airwaves more efficiently. Verizon and AT&T already have 4G LTE networks in place, and Sprint is moving to the technology. Dish says it hopes to enter the mobile broadband market with advanced LTE technology by late 2014 or early 2015. If Dish were to also offer voice service, it would come through VoLTE, which is similar to Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VOIP) phone services. Dish still needs the FCC to drop a condition tied to its spectrum that requires devices to have the ability to communicate with satellites, not just ground-based cell sites. The rule-making process that will likely remove the requirement is underway and could be completed by summer's end. Is there really a shortage problem? The problem, analysts argue, is that the operators that control the greatest amount of unused spectrum may be under-capitalized or unwilling to build out networks to use the spectrum. "We do not believe the U.S. faces a spectrum shortage," Jason Bazinet and Michael Rollins wrote in their Citigroup report. "Too much spectrum is controlled by companies that are not planning on rolling out services or face business and financial challenges. And of the spectrum that is being used, 90 percent of it has been allocated to existing 2G, 3G, and 3.5G wireless services by larger wireless carriers, such as AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel, and T-Mobile USA. In total, U.S. operators have licenses for about 538MHz of wireless spectrum. Only about 192MHz of that spectrum is currently being used. Most of the unused wireless spectrum is owned by companies such as Clearwire, LightSquared, and Dish Network. But so far, LightSquared has been stopped and the other companies have been slow to build networks using their available spectrum. "There is definitely a mismatch when it comes to spectrum in the wireless industry," said Paul Gallant, an analyst with MF Global in Washington, D.C. "There are some companies that have spectrum, but they're struggling financially. Or they aren't quite sure what to do with the spectrum. And others that have the money and business model, but need the spectrum." The move to 4G is very important for these operators because it offers them a more efficient way to deliver service. 4G LTE uses the available spectrum roughly 700 percent more efficiently than the 3G wireless technology EV-DO. Carriers will soon be refarming 3G spectrum to 4G LTE in several years. A key factor in encouraging efficient use of spectrum has been largely overlooked in carrier boardroom discussions. Wireless providers can add capacity, without obtaining more spectrum, by adding more and more cell sites. Additional cell sites in spectrum constrained areas allow the same spectrum to be used by even more consumers, as well as adding picocells and microcells to denser population areas. So far, the carriers have not expressed too much interest in this method due to additional capital expenditures and overhead. Their strategy is like what Microsoft, Apple and Google have used. It's just cheaper to buy what you need than to invest the time and energy to do the actual work. So what can the wireless companies do? To some extent, re-farming their existing networks will help. But so will finding ways to use other spectrum. For example, only T-Mobile lets users make phone calls using Wi-Fi, yet most of the mobile devices available from carriers have this capability; the carriers just don't enable it. Allowing Wi-Fi calling could unload millions of voice and data users on to alternative networks and ease the spectrum crunch, at least to some extent. Encouraging VoIP use would also help for two reasons. VoIP doesn't require a lot of bandwidth, and it means that the phone in question uses only the data spectrum, not both voice and data while this is going on. These points illustrate that the carriers do have options beyond just buying up spectrum. They can offload more wireless traffic than they do now, build more cell sites into their networks and they can allow the use of other types of communications. While the spectrum crunch isn't going away, that doesn't mean that the process can't be slowed. Sensational graphic extolling the dire spectrum crisis. Maybe a tad exaggerated??? Images courtesy: Spectrum Bridge, iqmetrix.com Source: FierceWireless.com, Denver Post, Ecommercetimes.com, CNET
  22. by Jeff Foster Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Tuesday, January 31, 2012 - 7:46 PM MST Since last fall, there had been talk of a Samsung Galaxy Nexus launching on American carriers other than Big Red. Sprint has finally announced several weeks ago that it is the another vendor slated for release in the U.S. Suffice to say, many of us out there, especially those adverse to heading to Verizon and paying its premium prices, are excited about the impending release. The good news is that Google could be working on an updated version of the Galaxy Nexus. It has unofficially been dubbed the Galaxy Nexus Plus. There is much anticipation that it will be released before Sprint turns on LTE this summer. It’s not the first time an OEM has refreshed a device and re-released it to the market place, which works to our advantage. It’s rumored that the new Galaxy Nexus will have either a 1.5 or 1.8 GHz Texas Instrument OMAP4670 dual core processor. This would be a significant upgrade from the 1.2 GHz dual core processor found in the current Verizon version. We don’t know anything about official specs, but it’s also rumored to have an 8 MP camera. This is a noteworthy upgrade to the 5 MP shooter on the Verizon model (which has been lauded by many techies). We already know that the Sprint model will come installed with Google Wallet, per previous announcements. Some rumors also point to a beefier battery as well. The phone should have all the other features that’s on the current Galaxy Nexus, so now all we have to do is wait. Source: http://androidandme....era-on-the-way/
  23. Tim YuSprint 4G Rollout UpdatesSaturday, April 7, 2018 - 6:54 PM PDT A year ago Sprint and Open Mobile announced the beginnings of a joint venture whereby they would combine their network assets and operations together to create a better more competitive alternative on the island. In late 2017, the deal was consummated which gave Sprint access to Open Mobile's spectrum holdings in the PCS 1900 range and, more importantly, the 750 MHz Band 13 block. This LTE Band 13 is almost exclusively used by Verizon Wireless as the basis for their LTE network. In comparison to Sprints SMR 800 MHz holdings it is 20 MHz in width meaning that Sprint is able to utilize a 10x10 MHz lowband LTE carrier whereas Sprints Band 26 800 MHz is limited to 5x5, 3x3, or even non existence as in Puerto Rico due to spectrum hoarders and other issues pertaining to the IBEZ. With this spectrum, Sprint is now able and has begun the deployment of a triband 750 / 1900 / 2500 network in Puerto Rico! See the following screenshots from S4GRU PR / VI market thread users! Note: UARFCN 5230 is 751 / 782 MHz center frequency. LTE Band 13 runs 777 - 787 / 746 - 756 which means it's smack dab in the center perfect for a 10x10 MHz FDD LTE carrier. Thanks to imatute and smooth25 for the finds!
  24. hello everyone i m starting a thread for sprint network predictions for 2018. i am wishing sprint and s4gru a happy holidays and new years. regards Daniel
  25. Was in olathe, ks and by 5 nv towers and had almost no luck with lte. Did have 4g pop on for 2 seconds and before I could launch a speedtest went to 3g, then back to 4g one more time then 3g. This was on santa fe between kansas ave and hwy 7. Try more parts of kc next Sunday.
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