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Sprint's Technical Chief Operating Officer Günther Ottendorfer to be hosted in a Reddit AMA tomorrow

by Robert Herron Sprint 4G Rollout Updates September 11, 2016 - 12:30 PM PDT   We have many good friends over at the Sprint Reddit page, and many of our members spend a lot of time there. They are excited at their recent score to host an AMA with Sprint's new COO of Technology, Günther Ottendorfer.   S4GRU wants to help spread the news. The AMA is scheduled for tomorrow, September 12th from 1:30 - 2:30pm Central Daylight Time. This should be an exciting exchange for

S4GRU

S4GRU

The RF evolution/revolution of the HTC 2016 Nexus

by Andrew J. Shepherd Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Friday, August 19, 2016 - 2:04 AM MDT   Earlier this week, the two HTC 2016 Nexus handsets -- codenamed "Marlin" and "Sailfish" -- were caught in the net of the FCC OET (Office of Engineering and Technology) authorization database.   While Google has yet to reveal them officially as Nexus handsets, that HTC is the manufacturer of choice this year has been a heavily leaked secret the past few months. And the circumstant

WiWavelength

WiWavelength

[PSA] The holy LTE trinity. A third Band 41 carrier now going live!

by Tim Yu Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Friday, April 8, 2016 - 3:40 PM MDT   Over the past week, S4GRU members in multiple Sprint markets have discovered new EARFCNs and corresponding GCI endings that identify new Band 41 LTE carriers.   The EARFCN is the center frequency of an LTE carrier that, along with the carrier bandwidth, identifies the carrier placement and occupied spectrum.   As Sprint is doing intraband contiguous/adjacent carrier aggregation -- 2

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lilotimz

[Teaser] Life's Good with VoLTE?

by Tim Yu Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Wednesday, March 16, 2016 - 9:13 PM MDT Authors Edit (8/25/16): According to a report, the LG G5 (and HTC 9) is indeed capable of 3xCA specifically for Sprint due to the intraband contiguous setup Sprint utilizes. The spotlight may have been largely on the Samsung Galaxy for the past few weeks, but from behind the red moon, a new contender has revealed itself. To keep it short, as per typical of a S4GRU teaser article, the model LS992 Sprint

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lilotimz

Not just with AT&T, Sprint swaps spectrum with T-Mobile and VZW, too.

by Tim Yu Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Friday, March 4, 2016 - 8:25 AM MST   A little over two weeks ago, S4GRU published an article detailing a multi-market PCS 1900 MHz swap between Sprint and AT&T that increased spectrum contiguity for both operators in several markets. In that article, we mentioned how that spectrum swap might be the first of many, as there are numerous other markets in which Sprint and other licensees could mutually benefit by realigning disparate spec

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lilotimz

"What's the frequency, Kenneth?" Sprint and AT&T tango to trade PCS frequencies.

by Tim Yu and Andrew J. Shepherd Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Thursday, February 18, 2016 - 6:25 AM MST   Call it a comeback. The band, the PCS band is getting back together. Pun intended. You will understand soon.   After a two year absence, the popular one, two, three part "What's the frequency, Kenneth?" article series is back for an encore. For full comprehension, refer back to those articles -- and others linked throughout this article. We will lead you in the di

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lilotimz

[UPDATED] Teaser: Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge. One of "US." One variant each for all of the US?

by Josh McDaniel, Tim Yu, and Andrew J. Shepherd Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Wednesday, February 3, 2016 - 11:50 PM MST   Update: Further inspection of the FCC OET authorization filings has shown that while Samsung will produce only one "US" hardware variant each for the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge, it still will delineate operator specific "V," "A," "T," "P," and "R4" variants via firmware.   That firmware on the Sprint "P" variant, for example, will enable CCA/RRPP

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lilotimz

Sprint enters the Relay race

by Tim Yu Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Monday, January 25, 2016 - 8:30 AM MST   For the past year, Sprint has commented a lot about its coming "Next Generation Network" deployment that aims to improve greatly Sprint's network capacity and coverage. Much of that speculation has been over how Sprint intends to feed backhaul to the "tens of thousands" of small cells it plans to deploy -- given Sprint's past history on getting backhaul delivered to its own macro cell sites as part o

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lilotimz

S4GRU Gift Account/Scholarship Account New Year Fund Drive

by Robert Herron Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Sunday, December 27, 2015 - 8:30 PM MST (edited)   Happy New Year!   Some of you are aware that S4GRU maintains a gift account/scholarship account. When a member cannot afford to renew or upgrade, we draw from this account to help others in need. It seems like this year we have had more people down on their luck than in past years, and our scholarship account has been fully depleted. We use this to fund not only people dow

S4GRU

S4GRU

[PSA] LTE roam if you want to. Plus (+), it may count as native coverage.

by Tim Yu and Andrew J. Shepherd Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Sunday, December 6, 2015 - 2:55 AM MST   S4GRU staff is burning the well past midnight oil for our readers. Overnight, Sprint has unofficially updated its network coverage map tool to include LTE Roaming+ and LTE Roaming acquired via its participation in the Competitive Carriers Association (CCA) Roaming Hub and its own Rural Roaming Preferred Partners (RRPP) program. The coverage tool LTE roaming update clearly is a

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lilotimz

HTC One A9: The first Sprint Handset to support uplink 2x CA

by Andrew J. Shepherd Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Thursday, November 12, 2015 - 3:07 PM MST   Yes, you read that correctly. Thanks to the mid range Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 (MSM8952), the HTC One A9 is the first Sprint handset to include a modem that supports uplink 2x CA (carrier aggregation). That comes on die via the X8 LTE modem, which is a Category 7 LTE baseband, capable of aggregating up to 40 MHz FDD/TDD 2x CA on both the uplink and downlink. Now, before anyone gets too

WiWavelength

WiWavelength

[UPDATED] How P for powerful is the Nexus 6P RF?

by Andrew J. Shepherd Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Monday, September 28, 2015 - 10:40 AM MDT   Update: Now that Google has released the full tech specs for the Nexus 6P, we can write a few addenda. While the FCC OET authorization filings disclosed support for several GSM, W-CDMA, and LTE international bands -- something that they are not required to do -- they curiously omitted W-CDMA band 8, which is the GSM 900 MHz band. Add that one to the W-CDMA list. Additionally, we can co

WiWavelength

WiWavelength

[UPDATE 2] [Teaser] Is S4GRU 5X certain that this is the new Nexus 5X?

by Tim Yu Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Friday, September 25, 2015 - 5:44 PM MDT   Update 2: S4GRU's technical editor here again. It is Monday, October 19, and today is the day. Many of the Nexus 5X first preorders started shipping this morning for delivery later this week. You also may have caught the Nexus 5X television commercial that Google ran multiple times during the NFL broadcasts yesterday.   In light of the first handsets shipping today, S4GRU wants to publish

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lilotimz

Apple's new iPhone 6S has Band 41 LTE 2x CA on board for Sprint. And you could win one!

by Josh McDaniel Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Friday, September 11, 2015 - 9:45 AM MDT   As most of nearly the entire world is aware, Apple announced the iPhone 6S, 6S Plus, and a number of other devices earlier this week. Most notably, iPhone 6S/6S Plus debuts 3D Touch, which is an enhanced version of Force Touch on Apple Watch. However, for most S4GRU readers here, there was one burning question that was not answered in the keynote.   As iPhone models have progressed

MacinJosh

MacinJosh

Sprint's PCS spectrum position in Memphis goes from nothin' but a hound dog to Graceland

by Andrew J. Shepherd Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Thursday, September 3, 2015 - 3:28 AM MDT   Ladies and gentlemen, C Spire has left the building. In Memphis. Or so it seems.   Based on an FCC spectrum lease filing that came down the pike earlier this week, Cellular South dba C Spire has applied to lease all of its spectrum in Memphis to Sprint. S4GRU has not been able to confirm yet, but this almost certainly appears to signal a C Spire exit from Memphis -- its large

WiWavelength

WiWavelength

Sprint affiliate Shentel to buy regional wireless operator nTelos bringing customers and spectrum to Sprint

by Robert Herron Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Monday, August 10, 2015 - 10:30 PM MDT   What began as widespread speculation back in May came to fruition today. Shenandoah Telecommunications (Shentel) announced its intention to buy nTelos in a $208 million deal ($640 million total counting debt Shentel will assume). The purchase includes network, spectrum licenses, retail customers/stores and all assets.   Shentel is a regional affiliate for Sprint and provides wireless

S4GRU

S4GRU

Columbus, 8640. The Age of 10 MHz FDD Discovery.

by Andrew J. Shepherd Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Wednesday, August 5, 2015 - 1:28 PM MDT   Columbus. But not 1492. Just 8640. And 26640, too.   This discovery did not require an Italian navigator sailing under the Spanish flag, nor the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. Instead, the explorers were an intrepid S4GRU Columbus membership group (sorry, restricted to S4GRU sponsors), some handsets, some screenshots, and some speed tests.   Those last two numb

WiWavelength

WiWavelength

Even More Guardians of the Samsung Galaxy

by Tim Yu and Andrew J. Shepherd Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Wednesday, July 22, 2015 - 1:20 PM MDT   On the heels of the first of the late summer/early fall flagship handsets that S4GRU reported on two weeks ago, a second group of superheroes has appeared. And both of these new handsets are destined to be the size of a galaxy. So, take note, and stay on the edge of your seats.   Last week, Samsung started certifying what is presumably its next go round of devices for

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lilotimz

[PSA] Carrier Aggregation Now Officially Live

by Tim Yu Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Wednesday, July 15, 2015 - 3:17 PM MDT   Consider this just a public service announcement. Sprint Spark Band 41 Carrier Aggregation (2x CA) now is officially live according to a Sprint internal announcement leaked on Reddit today by a verified Sprint employee in the Sprint subreddit. Late last month, S4GRU found evidence of 2x CA being live in Atlanta, but this now is a formal notice that Sprint has sent to its employees.   Thi

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lilotimz

Teaser: Hello Moto (X)?

by Tim Yu Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Wednesday, July 8, 2015 - 08:51 AM MDT   Mid summer has arrived in the northern hemisphere, and that means the harvest of fall flagship handsets is just getting underway. (The exception are Apples, which are planted and picked all in one afternoon in September.)   The past two weeks brought our first crop. A new authorization for a Motorola device in the FCC OET (Office of Engineering and Technology) database arrived yesterday. Ju

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lilotimz

[UPDATED] EDITORIAL: Marcelo, that's not quite what we were thinking "All In" would look like

by Robert Herron Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Tuesday, June 30, 2015 - 1:30 PM MDT   Update: at 7:00 p.m. MDT Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure announced the following on Twitter, "We heard you loud and clear and we are removing the 600 kbps on streaming video. #Allin and we won't stop" . We don't do many editorials here at S4GRU. We tend to editorialize in our forums. Where our opinions run rampant. We also don't do articles about plan offerings. We are a network focused site

S4GRU

S4GRU

Sprint LTE Advanced Carrier Aggregation Discovered Live Today in Atlanta (B41 2xCA)

by Robert Herron Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Wednesday, June 24, 2015 - 5:20 PM MDT   It's finally happening. 2x Carrier Aggregation was found in the wild today on the Sprint network! We have been receiving reports for the past several months that second B41 channels were appearing all over Sprint-land, but nothing about finding them being aggregated together. That changed this afternoon.   It was discovered today by an S4GRU Member in the Atlanta market that Carrier

S4GRU

S4GRU

(UPDATED) Use the 4th, LG. May the 4th Be with You.

by Andrew J. Shepherd Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Friday, May 8, 2015 - 12:15 PM MDT   Update: A week after the Sprint variant LG G4 original authorization documents were released at the FCC OET and S4GRU published this RF performance article, a Class II Permissive Change filing was added to the G4's docket. In writing the article last week, we did not detect anything amiss with the original filing, so this represents an optional change, which the filing discloses as hardware m

WiWavelength

WiWavelength

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