Network Vision/LTE - Charlotte Market

[WiWavelength]

I won't take AJ's hard line, but somewhere in the middle. Sprint is far from number one in Charlotte, as illustrated in the report. However, NGN is completely necessary in a market like Charlotte to make Sprint more competitive. That much is clear. It is surprising that Sprint is not yet farther along in this market. But further improvements are coming.

 

I do not think that I am taking a hard line, Robert.  NGN or not, Sprint will be last in some markets.  Each of VZW, AT&T, and T-Mobile will be last in some markets.  That is just playing the odds and running the statistics.  Not all of the children can be above average.

 

The hard line is the unequivocal attitude that "Sprint cannot be last in my market.  That is embarrassing."  If Sprint finishes a distant fourth place, then that may be embarrassing.  However, if Sprint finishes a reasonably close fourth place and provides usable service, then that is not embarrassing.

 

AJ

[S4GRU]

I do not think that I am taking a hard line, Robert. NGN or not, Sprint will be last in some markets. Each of VZW, AT&T, and T-Mobile will be last in some markets. That is just playing the odds and running the statistics. Not all of the children can be above average.

 

The hard line is the unequivocal attitude that "Sprint cannot be last in my market. That is embarrassing." If Sprint finishes a distant fourth place, then that may be embarrassing. However, if Sprint finishes a reasonably close fourth place and provides usable service, then that is not embarrassing.

 

AJ

Sprint can be last. But the gap is wide. They need to be more competitive. And they will be.

 

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[WiWavelength]

If anyone wants to see RootMetrics reports that are truly embarrassing, just take a look at the T-Mobile humdingers from Omaha:

 

http://www.rootmetrics.com/us/rsr/omaha-ne/2015/1H

http://www.rootmetrics.com/us/rsr/omaha-ne/2015/2H

 

The results even got worse from 1H 2015 to 2H 2015.  And that is with zero official market share on the skeleton, license protection network.

 

If Sprint put up across the board performance like that in any top 100 metro, then people rightly could call it embarrassing.  That is appropriate perspective.

 

AJ

[WiWavelength]

Sprint can be last. But the gap is wide. They need to be more competitive. And they will be.

 

If this were a standard grading scale, then all four operators would earn an A grade.  Or if the teacher were an asshole who refused to round up, then Sprint would earn a B grade.

 

So, if 5-8 points is a wide gap and 89.9 points is an embarrassing score, then the RootMetrics scale is flawed.  

 

AJ

[JonnygATL]

The issues of falling back to 3G in otherwise LTE rich areas could also heavily affect these scores (if it is indeed occurring on a wide enough scale). But should this still be happening this far into the game? Are there still areas on the Sprint network with eCSFB issues?

[anthony.spina97]

However, if Sprint finishes a reasonably close fourth place and provides usable service, then that is not embarrassing.

 

AJ

I do not call Sprint's results in our market embarrassing, but the bolded statement, for a lot of areas in the Charlotte market, is untrue. There are many areas where you will see the device at -103 (or lower) 1x. And there are many areas in the suburbs, and even the metro areas, where people will be roaming. That, in my opinion, is unacceptable, and is a little embarrassing for a city like Charlotte (the second largest financial city in the country). But Sprint's performance in this Rootmetrics test? Far from embarrassing. They actually scored better than I thought they would have.

 

-Anthony

[WiWavelength]

I do not call Sprint's results in our market embarrassing, but the bolded statement, for a lot of areas in the Charlotte market, is untrue.

 

I put forth a conditional statement.  I said if Sprint service is usable, not that it is usable in Charlotte.  That is for all of you to decide for yourselves.  If it is unusable, then many of you may be hoping and praying for better but probably should be looking into other options.

 

AJ

[anthony.spina97]

I put forth a conditional statement.  I said if Sprint service is usable, not that it is usable in Charlotte. 

 

AJ

Thank you for clarifying that.

 

-Anthony

[Terrell352]

I wasn't speaking to your issues. Just wanted to explain that while observing the network, similar strengths between B25/B26 in itself is not reason to assume that optimization has not occurred. It could be, and often is, but not necessarily.

 

It is something I'm probably going to keep posting when I see people reference similar B25/26 strengths and optimization. There are many markets that have been optimized significantly (especially in urban/suburban areas) and people assume they have not merely because they see similar strengths. Even though it seems to not be the case in your area, I'd hate for someone to blindly ascribe it to theirs.

 

Using Tapatalk on BlackBerry Z30

Does Tmobile do this too? I ask because everywhere I get band 12 it goes so far that you can pass a site with band 4 only site but my phone still preferred that farther band 12 signal? It happens alot actually. Sprint never does this and often will lose band 26 well before tmobile uses band 12. Also I notice Sprint's SNR ratings on band 26 always being consistently weaker than band 25. Tmobile SNR even far from the site on band 12 is normally around 8-18 while Sprint will be on band 26 around 0.8-7 on average.

[Fraydog]

If anyone wants to see RootMetrics reports that are truly embarrassing, just take a look at the T-Mobile humdingers from Omaha:

 

http://www.rootmetrics.com/us/rsr/omaha-ne/2015/1H

http://www.rootmetrics.com/us/rsr/omaha-ne/2015/2H

 

The results even got worse from 1H 2015 to 2H 2015. And that is with zero official market share on the skeleton, license protection network.

 

If Sprint put up across the board performance like that in any top 100 metro, then people rightly could call it embarrassing. That is appropriate perspective.

 

AJ

The Omaha bizzaro setup doesn't detract from their national market or cause them material harm to their goodwill. If it did, they would probably shift priority and fix it.

 

Compare to St. Louis where T-Mobile has a lower amount of spectrum (60 MHz to Omaha's 70 MHz).

 

 

And this is a market where Sprint gets extremely good performance - Sprint in STL probably gets a higher RootScore than most of the US. If there's a market where Sprint was 97.4 or higher I'd like to see it. KC?

 

T-Mo US obviously doesn't think there's good return in investing in Omaha. It is what it is.

[WiWavelength]

The Omaha bizzaro setup doesn't detract from their national market or cause them material harm to their goodwill. If it did, they would probably shift priority and fix it.

. . .

 

T-Mo US obviously doesn't think there's good return in investing in Omaha. It is what it is.

 

Ryan, you miss my point.  I merely was using RootMetrics results for T-Mobile in Omaha as one example off the top of my head of results that are truly embarrassing.  Sprint results in Charlotte do not qualify as embarrassing, are not even in the same ballpark.

 

Now, if someone wants to point out a Sprint top 100 market with results as bad as those for T-Mobile in Omaha, go ahead and post it.  Equal opportunity.  But that market is not Charlotte.  People sometimes need a healthy dose of perspective.

 

AJ

[djw39]

The network vision upgrades helped a lot uptown, there is even service deep inside buildings now. But no progress in these residential neighborhoods (which are still within the city limits, not far-flung areas by any means). So I think a B sounds about right.

 

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[Brandonlmbrt]

I had a question about the new unlimited data throttling policy. I realize that they're saying new customers and upgrading customers on unlimited plans will start to get throttled in congested areas after 23 gigs of data, but for the people who are not involved in that does that mean we don't get throttle at all? I remember reading somewhere in the terms and conditions when I signed my contract a while back that there would be throttling in congested areas. So what does this mean for people who are not put in this new category of throttling? Also does this mean if you simply by your device out right and don't upgrade through a sprint payment plan that you're still exclusivity from this new throttling ?

[jimmyray1990]

Got this in Statesville today hwy 21 area

 

Used to be only 12mbps in this area guessing CA is on

 

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[paintmaster]

Thought I would give this thread a fresh bump.I live north of charlotte in the Salisbury area and have noticed that rootmetrics charlotte score for the first half of 2016 still ranks sprint very poorly on data. Any thoughts on when sprint might start kicking network improvements into high gear in our area? This is in no way a rant about bad service in my area. In fact I am quite happy with sprint's network progress in the last few years,it's just nice to here about upcoming improvements.

[anthony.spina97]

Thought I would give this thread a fresh bump.I live north of charlotte in the Salisbury area and have noticed that rootmetrics charlotte score for the first half of 2016 still ranks sprint very poorly on data. Any thoughts on when sprint might start kicking network improvements into high gear in our area? This is in no way a rant about bad service in my area. In fact I am quite happy with sprint's network progress in the last few years,it's just nice to here about upcoming improvements.

Most likely Sprint will start giving our area some attention when NGN kicks into high gear. Charlotte isn't really a priority market so they haven't been doing much here as of late, but NGN will be nationwide so we will have to wait until then to get some upgrades going.

 

-Anthony

[bill875]

Most likely Sprint will start giving our area some attention when NGN kicks into high gear. Charlotte isn't really a priority market so they haven't been doing much here as of late, but NGN will be nationwide so we will have to wait until then to get some upgrades going.

 

-Anthony

I hope Sprint corporate is sending some NGN love to the greater Hickory area (part of CLT market) as we have too many dead zones due to the hilly terrain and lack of sufficient macro sites.

 

Sprint could easily fix HWY 16 from CLT to Taylorsville and beyond and all of HWY 321 with small cells and in some cases, B41 backhaul.  It would be really quite awesome to have service where it just hasn't been economical enough for Sprint to co-locate on macro sites.  I just hope Sprint will see the benefit in this and act upon it.  Also, I-40 could really use small cells to close the numerous coverage gaps between Asheville and Winston-Salem.  2016 could be an amazing year for Sprint.

[anthony.spina97]

I hope Sprint corporate is sending some NGN love to the greater Hickory area (part of CLT market) as we have too many dead zones due to the hilly terrain and lack of sufficient macro sites.

 

Sprint could easily fix HWY 16 from CLT to Taylorsville and beyond and all of HWY 321 with small cells and in some cases, B41 backhaul.  It would be really quite awesome to have service where it just hasn't been economical enough for Sprint to co-locate on macro sites.  I just hope Sprint will see the benefit in this and act upon it.  Also, I-40 could really use small cells to close the numerous coverage gaps between Asheville and Winston-Salem.  2016 could be an amazing year for Sprint.

NGN should touch all parts of the Charlotte market, including the Hickory area. I live in the suburbs of Charlotte, so I'm looking forward to the upgrades and expansion that will come with NGN. We'll get some love Soon^TM.

 

-Anthony

[paintmaster]

Was just in Denton North Carolina this weekend and let me tell you if you had data service it was 3G only and basically unusable. That town seems like the land that Sprint forgot a lot of potential customers there wonder what's going on

[bill875]

Was just in Denton North Carolina this weekend and let me tell you if you had data service it was 3G only and basically unusable. That town seems like the land that Sprint forgot a lot of potential customers there wonder what's going on

From the looks of the Sprint coverage map, Denton is confirmed to still be only a 3G area.  It will be upgraded...(as others around here say) Soon^TM

[paintmaster]

Good to hear

[caspar347]

I hope Sprint corporate is sending some NGN love to the greater Hickory area (part of CLT market) as we have too many dead zones due to the hilly terrain and lack of sufficient macro sites.

 

Sprint could easily fix HWY 16 from CLT to Taylorsville and beyond and all of HWY 321 with small cells and in some cases, B41 backhaul.  It would be really quite awesome to have service where it just hasn't been economical enough for Sprint to co-locate on macro sites.  I just hope Sprint will see the benefit in this and act upon it.  Also, I-40 could really use small cells to close the numerous coverage gaps between Asheville and Winston-Salem.  2016 could be an amazing year for Sprint.

NC in general needs work. The most recent work permits I'm aware of are from November 2014 and none of those were actually completed.

 

They could've completely blanketed 321 with a few Nextel conversions, but that never happened.

[djw39]

3G only today, uptown Charlotte

 

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[bill875]

3G only today, uptown Charlotte

 

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I've been seeing 3G only off an on (hours at a time) up here in Hickory.  Thing is, it still works quite well for just about everything.  I cannot imagine all of Sprint's customers are falling back to 3G, otherwise the network would be slowed to a crawl.

[caspar347]

Everything's normal as far as I can tell in South Charlotte.

 

Maybe it's network tweaking?