70 replies to this topic

[Geesmill]

With all the LTE talk I thought I would pass on some info on the Iden Thinning project I came across. Looks like Sprint has completed the initial iden thin. That 800 Mhz is getting freed up.

Iden Thinning team,

Last night, we took the last of our 9700 IDEN cell sites off air in our IDEN Thinning project. Today, we celebrate our accomplishment of delivering an on-time, significant OPEX savings to Sprint. Exactly how much savings? Well don't quote me on this, but if you estimate the per site cost of Power ($3000), Telco ($300) and Rent ($2500), that's a savings of $5800 monthly / $69,600 annually. For 9700 cell sites, that's an annual savings of $675,120,000. You should feel proud that you are part of helping Sprint to achieve this goal.

While we know that IDEN shutdown is the best financial decision for Sprint, it is a bittersweet moment for many of us who helped build the IDEN network. You may remember the day that the first nationwide coast-to-coast IDEN Direct Connect call was made (and $20 to you if you can remember where it was made from and to… Irvine to Boston?). And I'd bet that some of you still answer affirmative questions with the response of "10-4." These experiences have helped us to build a strong Sprint.

While the Thinning portion of the project is complete, we need to continue delivering on the following Thinning items:
- Power Down of 9700 cell sites - this is where those OPEX savings start adding up, and we need to deliver them on time. Our FSO Ops team has already powered off 4153 cell sites. The Power and Energy team has already turned off commercial power to 993 sites.
- RF Optimization - continuing to optimize Urban after sites have been Thinned.
- BDA Reorients - we're close to wrapping up 983 BDA's that have been successfully repointed to non-Thinned sites. This was a last minute addition to the project with only 2 weeks to plan for it.
- Cell Site Restorals - Sprint did not want us to put Thinned sites back on air post-Thinning. Well, some IDEN customers want their Push To Talk, and we're up to 92 Thinned cell sites back on air.
- IDEN Decom of 9700 sites - while this work was awarded to other vendors, we need to count the work that we do to support it.
Great job everyone!

Edited by S4GRU, 17 July 2012 - 02:43 PM.
Edited for readability

[pii100]

That's great news for Sprint as a company and us as consumers.

[ericdabbs]

I wish Sprint would continue to thin out more towers. 9700 cell sites are great and all but I would like to see at least half of all iDEN sites to be gone by the end of 2012.

[Geesmill]

Well I believe the Iden Network will be turned down by the end of 2013 from what I read/hear. I know several people who were on the Nextel network side and it will be a sad day, but necessary. I find myself rooting for Sprint since they are an underdog and unless they free up spectrum and capital it will not matter how many iPhones they sell.

[S4GRU]

With all the LTE talk I thought I would pass on some info on the Iden Thinning project I came across. Looks like Sprint has completed the initial iden thin. That 800 Mhz is getting freed up.

Thanks for the post. Appreciate the update.

Robert

[Deval]

Did I read that right? $675 million dollars?

[4GHoward]

I wonder how much savings will there be in WiMAX Thinning once Clearwire starts deploying LTE.

[Deval]

I wonder how much savings will there be in WiMAX Thinning once Clearwire starts deploying LTE.

Won't be Sprint's savings though.

[4GHoward]

Won't be Sprint's savings though.

It can still benefit Sprint and Clearwire in both ways. WiMAX needs to be phased out soon for full LTE power!

[Mercurial1]

That is an insane amount of money. While the author admits it us an estimate the actual amount will still be high. Can't wait for the q2 earnings report!

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

[Deval]

Makes me a very happy Sprint employee

[Deval]

It can still benefit Sprint and Clearwire in both ways. WiMAX needs to be phased out soon for full LTE power!

I believe Sprint and Clearwire are committed to running the Wimax network for a while.

[4GHoward]

I believe Sprint and Clearwire are committed to running the Wimax network for a while.

You are right. It takes time to deploy LTE, and Clearwire needs to keep WiMAX up and running to pay for operation cost. Another fact is WiMAX is still more efficient than iDEN and EVDO.

[Deval]

You are right. It takes time to deploy LTE, and Clearwire needs to keep WiMAX up and running to pay for operation cost. Another fact is WiMAX is still more efficient than iDEN and EVDO.

I'm curious, efficienct in which way?

[4GHoward]

I'm curious, efficienct in which way?

Comparing it to iDEN and EVDO, Clearwire all-IP WiMAX network architecture makes it efficient at a lower cost from its compact design.

[Deval]

Fancy...thanks for the slide

[bcltoys]

Where any site's in Delaware thinned.

[digiblur]

Thinning doesn't free up spectrum. Just gets rid of the sites that were there for capacity reasons.

I don't agree on the $3000 a month for electric. I can't see iden equipment being that much of a power hog. Maybe twice or three times that of a CDMA site I could see. That would still put it around 500. A cdma site that I posted pictures of that you can access the meter and breaker from two foot from the street with the sprint sticker on the meter, only pulls about 150 to maybe 200 a month worth of electric.

Sent from my C64 w/Epyx FastLoad cartridge

[S4GRU]

Where any site's in Delaware thinned.

I have an iDEN thinning map from my iDEN Thinning Article: http://s4gru.com/ind...ll-steam-ahead/

But Delaware is not in its own market, so its tough to say. But I bet there were some sites removed there too.

Robert

[irev210]

Thinning doesn't free up spectrum. Just gets rid of the sites that were there for capacity reasons.

I don't agree on the $3000 a month for electric. I can't see iden equipment being that much of a power hog. Maybe twice or three times that of a CDMA site I could see. That would still put it around 500. A cdma site that I posted pictures of that you can access the meter and breaker from two foot from the street with the sprint sticker on the meter, only pulls about 150 to maybe 200 a month worth of electric.

Sent from my C64 w/Epyx FastLoad cartridge

I thought the ac units where the real power suckers?

Not that hard to do the math. 3000 does sound Like a lot.

I'll look up some more info and see if I can get a better number