Network Vision/LTE - Chicago Market

[jreuschl]

Has Sprint given an indication on how many USCC towers they will convert?

[Cubbiefan82]

Has Sprint given an indication on how many USCC towers they will convert?

Sadly no! In central illnois, it seems like they are building where uscc use to have coverage. That is due to losing uscc for roaming though. In Chicago market, It is where they have fair coverage. Like burlington,hampshire(part of the town is roaming), just a few examples. Chicago is the model market, so this is going to happen in other areas

[Cubbiefan82]

Oh wow, Good Job.  If Sprint Takes over most of the Uscc towers in northern IL.,  Network would be bullet proof..  

 

Update: Looking at Google Map again it looks like the Container has been there for a while.  Not sure when its dated. But I doubt I'm that lucky for Sprint to use that tower.   

 

 

 

If you ever make it to Marengo, Check on a tower for me.   Last time I was there I saw a big storage container a lil away from the Uscc tower. Didn't see any work being done. Didn't know if it belong to the owner of the house or what.  But would be a perfect location to add service. I live 5 minutes from there but currently in AZ and have no idea when I'll be back home.  Link is below if you have time...    

 

https://goo.gl/maps/TddQN

They took the uscc antennas off of it and now there is nothing on it now. So it would be a great site to put up a sprint setup on it, a lot of 3g around that area.

[Vince]

Sprint climbs to 3-way-tie for first place in Rockford market in 1H2015 RootMetrics.

http://newsroom.sprint.com/news-releases/sprint-jointly-awarded-1-ranking-for-overall-network-performance-in-rockford-illinois.htm?previousArticle=0&nextArticle=11754&gotoArt=%2Fnews-releases%2Fsprint-jointly-awarded-1-ranking-for-overall-network-performance-in-rockford-illinois.htm

 

 

 

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[gnoj]

Sprint climbs to 3-way-tie for first place in Rockford market in 1H2015 RootMetrics.

http://newsroom.sprint.com/news-releases/sprint-jointly-awarded-1-ranking-for-overall-network-performance-in-rockford-illinois.htm?previousArticle=0&nextArticle=11754&gotoArt=%2Fnews-releases%2Fsprint-jointly-awarded-1-ranking-for-overall-network-performance-in-rockford-illinois.htm

 

Samsung's 8T8R FIT was in Rockford, so Sprint was already tied for first there according to RM's previous report from August. The most notable change was T-Mobile dropping out of the four-way tie for first place, due to their drop in call performance. Perhaps there are some bugs with eSRVCC (VoLTE to 2G/3G handover) that have cropped up.

[Vince]

Samsung's 8T8R FIT was in Rockford, so Sprint was already tied for first there according to RM's previous report from August. The most notable change was T-Mobile dropping out of the four-way tie for first place, due to their drop in call performance. Perhaps there are some bugs with eSRVCC (VoLTE to 2G/3G handover) that have cropped up.

"Since our previous testing in August, Sprint launched its Spark[emoji769] network in the Rockford area. Subsequently, Sprint’s median download speed increased from 9.9 Mbps to 16.8 Mbps, and Sprint’s median upload speed increased from 5.1 Mbps to 7.8 Mbps.

 

Notably, 16.8 Mbps is the fastest median download speed Sprint has recorded in any market we've tested to date."

 

Looks like that second band 41 carrier was helping ease congestion big time. I can't wait until that hits Chicago.

 

 

 

 

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[gnoj]

Looks like that second band 41 carrier was helping ease congestion big time. I can't wait until that hits Chicago.

True. With two B41 carriers active, sites there are more likely to have backhaul that is actually fast enough to support the full capacity of the airlink(s).

[S4GRU]

True. With two B41 carriers active, sites there are more likely to have backhaul that is actually fast enough to support the full capacity of the airlink(s).

^^This

[lou99/maximus1987]

^^This

 

Are are there many two b41 carrier sites?

[Vince]

Are are there many two b41 carrier sites?

In the Rockford market (Samsung 8t8r FIT), I'm sure most are broadcasting 2. I haven't been up there in about 8 months, but I'm sure we have a member or two that could confirm.

 

 

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[lou99/maximus1987]

In the Rockford market (Samsung 8t8r FIT), I'm sure most are broadcasting 2. I haven't been up there in about 8 months, but I'm sure we have a member or two that could confirm.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 6+

Excellent. Hopefully sprint has all spark coverage at least 2x20 end of year 2015.

 

 

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[Vince]

Excellent. Hopefully sprint has all spark coverage at least 2x20 end of year 2015.

 

 

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They should definitely have that rolling out sooner than that. Multiple spark carriers this year has been on the books for some time now.

 

 

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[S4GRU]

^^This

 

Don't know the extent at this point.

[Cubbiefan82]

In the Rockford market (Samsung 8t8r FIT), I'm sure most are broadcasting 2. I haven't been up there in about 8 months, but I'm sure we have a member or two that could confirm.

 

 

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I was in rockford about month and half ago. I saw them testing the second carrier then, it was only on a handful of sites. They were using 41776 channel(same as they used in kansas, during the world series for the second carrier/channel)

[kyle_4thousand]

Random question.. When the hell are they going to rename US Cellular Field?? I think Sprint Park (or Sprint Spark Park?!?) has a nice ring to it. I feel a rebranded USCC field would be a great asset for Sprint to have now they are back in the game with the improved network.

 

 

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[WiWavelength]

Random question.. When the hell are they going to rename US Cellular Field?? I think Sprint Park (or Sprint Spark Park?!?) has a nice ring to it. I feel a rebranded USCC field would be a great asset for Sprint to have now they are back in the game with the improved network.

 

Uh, I hate to call that a stupid question, but Sprint did not acquire USCC.  Additionally, USCC is still headquartered in Chicago and bought New Comiskey Park naming rights for fully 20 years.

 

AJ

[kyle_4thousand]

Uh, I hate to call that a stupid question, but Sprint did not acquire USCC. Additionally, USCC is still headquartered in Chicago and bought New Comiskey Park naming rights for fully 20 years.

 

AJ

I know that AJ. They sold off their spectrum and subs to Sprint but their HQ is still here like you said. It just seems very irrational for branding to remain on a MLB ballpark after a company that no longer offers any products or services within the Chicago metro area.

 

Even if the naming rights are there for 20 years, contracts can be broken or transferred. USCC doesn't have much to benefit from those naming rights for obvious reasons unless the penalties assessed for terminating the naming agreement are greater than the remaining contract cost.

 

Another observation made before the 2014 season was that the USCC branding on the facade behind home plate was removed. I doubt that would have happened if USCC was still active in the Chicago market. Coincidence? Maybe. But I doubt USCC is fully committed given their Chicagoland exit.

 

 

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[WiWavelength]

I know that AJ. They sold off their spectrum and subs to Sprint but their HQ is still here like you said. It just seems very irrational for branding to remain on a MLB ballpark after a company that no longer offers any products or services within the Chicago metro area.

 

Even if the naming rights are there for 20 years, contracts can be broken or transferred. USCC doesn't have much to benefit from those naming rights for obvious reasons unless the penalties assessed for terminating the naming agreement are greater than the remaining contract cost.

 

Another observation made before the 2014 season was that the USCC branding on the facade behind home plate was removed. I doubt that would have happened if USCC was still active in the Chicago market. Coincidence? Maybe. But I doubt USCC is fully committed given their Chicagoland exit.

 

http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/white-sox/post/_/id/14560/the-cell-not-in-line-for-name-change

 

Two years have passed.  Nothing has changed.  Why now?

 

And we do not need Sprint Park.  We already have Sprint Center in Kansas City -- but that naming right purchase was more of a civic pride contribution than anything else.

 

After all, where is T-Mobile Field?  Yet, Magenta seems to be doing okay.  Naming rights have been shown to provide little benefit for already well known brands.

 

AJ

[kyle_4thousand]

http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/white-sox/post/_/id/14560/the-cell-not-in-line-for-name-change

 

Two years have passed. Nothing has changed. Why now?

 

And we do not need Sprint Park. We already have Sprint Center in Kansas City -- but that naming right purchase was more of a civic pride contribution than anything else.

 

After all, where is T-Mobile Field? Yet, Magenta seems to be doing okay. Naming rights have been shown to provide little benefit for already well known brands.

 

AJ

I'm not much of a marketing guru but I do realize many dynamics have changed with both USCC and Sprint in the last two years. Such that, IMO, a name change for Sox Park may be more plausable now with those naming rights to be transferred to Sprint in some fashion.

 

Plausibility does not mean certainty and I realize this. But I think it would certainly prove to be a bold move by Sprint if they bought the naming rights to the ballpark sometime in the near future.

 

 

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[Vince]

I vote to call it "Comiskey Park."

 

 

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[Cubbiefan82]

let us celluar keep the name, they are paying 3.4 million a year for the naming rights. I would rather see that money goto new cell sites and/or them doing more band 41 sites

[WiWavelength]

I vote to call it "Comiskey Park."

 

Really?  I thought you would vote for "I Can't Believe It's Not Wrigley Field."

 

 

AJ

[radem]

Really?  I thought you would vote for "I Can't Believe It's Not Wrigley Field."

 

 

AJ

There is something disturbing about a ball field nicknamed "The Cell".

[tommym65]

There is something disturbing about a ball field nicknamed "The Cell".

 

But rather appropriate for a state where many of our Governors have lived in one! 

[Joeynach]

I'm not much of a marketing guru but I do realize many dynamics have changed with both USCC and Sprint in the last two years. Such that, IMO, a name change for Sox Park may be more plausable now with those naming rights to be transferred to Sprint in some fashion.

 

Plausibility does not mean certainty and I realize this. But I think it would certainly prove to be a bold move by Sprint if they bought the naming rights to the ballpark sometime in the near future.

 

 

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I actually enhanced a couple brief emails with White Sox VP of Marketing Brooks Boyer about this subject a couple years ago.  He acknowledged it was strange to have a company brand the ballpark that has no services or customers in Chicago anymore, but all he could really offer was that the Sox were aware of the strategic changes at USCC and had no plans for a change to the name of the park anytime soon.  Strange situation, but is what it is.