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Network Vision/LTE - Western & Central Pennsylvania Markets (Lancaster, Scranton, Erie, State College, Williamsport)


jeremyandrew

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How bizarre! I have no idea why the church would have any interest in that at all. It certainly hasn't hampered things elsewhere in the country! Unless they were trying to put a site on several diocesan properties or something like that.

They have a high school in Erie & therefore own the education spectrum licence that clearwire (and now sprint) lease. I'm not sure if they feel they should get more money or what could be the source of the problem if it's not money (which is ironically hypocritical for a church).

 

This could stop sprint from deploying 2600Mhz, and possibly was one reason WiMax was never deployed, but does not fully explain their dislike of the whole region. With few remaining customers left there, you would think they could do a GMO LTE option and maybe re-farm a second PCS carrier and give a good enough experience for the customers left there. Once they convert to full builds, 800Mhz re-banding should be complete too for extra capacity & propagation.

 

I would personally suggest shentel to purchase the wireless interests from sprint, leasing name & spectrum rights like they do in their current areas. Sprint would no longer have to worry about forgetting about Erie & Maybe the residents would see some positive change.

 

Maybe one day we will know sprint's plans, until then Erie will continue to be the red headed step child (& snowy hell in the winter, lol)

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I'm not sure if this is the right thread, but I'm heading out to the Poconos for a weekend getaway in two weeks, staying in Lakeville. I believe that is all legacy iPCS territory, so I'm curious how is 3G? From what I saw, there is no LTE anywhere to be found in that area, which is fine, but just wondering how 3G would be.

 

My wife and I are staying at the Cove Haven Resort. 

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I'm not sure if this is the right thread, but I'm heading out to the Poconos for a weekend getaway in two weeks, staying in Lakeville. I believe that is all legacy iPCS territory, so I'm curious how is 3G? From what I saw, there is no LTE anywhere to be found in that area, which is fine, but just wondering how 3G would be.

 

My wife and I are staying at the Cove Haven Resort. 

probably not great if it's a saturated area, but everyone's mileage varies, even in some places that I'm in with LTE, when I drop to 3g, basic things load fine, but don't try to stream anything HD :rolleyes:

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probably not great if it's a saturated area, but everyone's mileage varies, even in some places that I'm in with LTE, when I drop to 3g, basic things load fine, but don't try to stream anything HD :rolleyes:

 

I don't plan on doing much streaming, but it's always good to know how the network would be.

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I haven't asked the question in a while but is there any news regarding State College which can be shared?  For the first time Sprint is claiming this is now an LTE market because there's apparently one site along South Nixon Road that's broadcasting LTE (however its in an area of town I never visit so I havent hit it yet to see if this is true).  In any case it got me thinking if we now have 1 patch of LTE hopefully more's in the works.  Anyone have any knowlege they can share?  I've asked Sprint directly and they aren't commenting aside from saying LTE will be there as soon as we can but I've heard that for the past 3 years too.  What's the story???

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No LTE in State College. What few blips south of town are from distant Shentel LTE sites. Sprint will not be converting existing sites around State College this year. Sprint has not funded this market for LTE yet, at all.

 

The only LTE that will occur in this market within the next year will only be on brand new sites. Like one fired up in Edinboro a few weeks ago.

 

Using Tapatalk on Nexus 6

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I wonder if the highway GMO sites on 476 and I-81 have higher priority, or if they're completely off Sprint's radar for now as well. It's really all that's left. The major cities along the highways have a great LTE experience now, it's just the GMO 3G sites left at the moment.... 

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Saw some wires coming down from the sprint tower on rt 30, was that some antenna adjust? Or is b41 getting a little closer to park city mall, still can only pick it up near hacc - lancaster campus

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  • 3 weeks later...

So can you please tell me about Erie's roll out? If I had the right people talk to Sprint. Who at Sprint do they or I address the concerns? Seriously, I am trying my best to address this and be vocal. What is the main problem. 

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So can you please tell me about Erie's roll out? If I had the right people talk to Sprint. Who at Sprint do they or I address the concerns? Seriously, I am trying my best to address this and be vocal. What is the main problem.

Cost/benefit.

 

 

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So can you please tell me about Erie's roll out? If I had the right people talk to Sprint. Who at Sprint do they or I address the concerns? Seriously, I am trying my best to address this and be vocal. What is the main problem.

The same as the last 3 times you've asked. It's low on the priority list for some reason.
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So can you please tell me about Erie's roll out? If I had the right people talk to Sprint. Who at Sprint do they or I address the concerns? Seriously, I am trying my best to address this and be vocal. What is the main problem.

There's no one to talk to. They know. They made the decision based on the market metrics. If you can't live with Sprint 3G, you need to change providers.

 

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Sprint should just sell the market here to shentel, who I believe would want to have the same level of service they currently provide in their current service area. It would be an opportunity for shentel to expand (if they don't buy n-telos, which I know was rumored) and sprint would collect the royalty... which might be more than they get from having a 3G network that the few subscribers left are fleeing.

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Sprint should just sell the market here to shentel, who I believe would want to have the same level of service they currently provide in their current service area. It would be an opportunity for shentel to expand (if they don't buy n-telos, which I know was rumored) and sprint would collect the royalty... which might be more than they get from having a 3G network that the few subscribers left are fleeing.

Hmmm. I never thought about that. That could be a reason why they don't work on the market. Maybe this was always in plan? Maybe in tandem with an nTelos play? Or maybe the nTelos play has just now stalled that from occurring now. Interesting.

 

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Hmmm. I never thought about that. That could be a reason why they don't work on the market. Maybe this was always in plan? Maybe in tandem with an nTelos play? Or maybe the nTelos play has just now stalled that from occurring now. Interesting.

 

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I assumed that it was a monetary decision after a cost/benefit analysis that was going to make the western pa market last... but after almost every other market has been updated,it's like there really is no plan going forward. They are even prioritizing an area with NO customers (Montana) over western pa where they actually have service & customers!

So hearing that shentel wanted to expand geographically after hearing that N-Telos might be for sale, the western pa market also seemed plausible. But I don't know if shentel would be able to financially handle adding both of these areas. It would probably triple their footprint & likely spread them too thin to do the type of deployment they accomplished in their native territory. So I assume that it will be an either/or situation. But hopefully if shentel purchases N-telos & screws sprint's plan to offload am underperforming area, sprint will at least launch GMO LTE in the cities where spacing allow decent service.

Only time will tell, but I am hopeful that sprint discloses their plans soon so we can stop speculating.

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Sprint should just sell the market here to shentel, who I believe would want to have the same level of service they currently provide in their current service area. It would be an opportunity for shentel to expand (if they don't buy n-telos, which I know was rumored) and sprint would collect the royalty... which might be more than they get from having a 3G network that the few subscribers left are fleeing.

If Shentel could afford 2 additional markets, that would make for a huge swath of Shentel-land. It's all happens to be contiguous too. I'm sure those who live, work, and go to school from State College to Erie would absolutely love for it to happen in the Western PA market.

 

I was hoping Sprint would have at least upgraded the cities in the market by now. Maybe a sale or even just a straight up transfer to Shentel is what's needed to get that market going.

 

Sent from my Note 4.

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Sprint, as part of the PCS G Block build out requirements, has to offer "substantial" service in their current regions plus service in a few where they did not have service. According to a very old thread, http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/3703-potential-sprint-rural-buildout-by-2016/, there was speculation that is now official of a Sprint build out by 2016.

 

My question is, does the build out requirement entail that Sprint have ANY service within each region, or is it a requirement for Sprint to have service within the PCS G Block?

 

As far as I'm aware, GMO sites cannot broadcast beyond the original A-F block, hence GMO's do not have SMR service. So, wouldn't Sprint be required to at least offer "substantial service" within the Western PA region (and other GMO regions) in the PCS G Block? 

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My question is, does the build out requirement entail that Sprint have ANY service within each region, or is it a requirement for Sprint to have service within the PCS G Block?

PCS G block. FCC buildout requirements are service code and license block specific.

 

As far as I'm aware, GMO sites cannot broadcast beyond the original A-F block, hence GMO's do not have SMR service. So, wouldn't Sprint be required to at least offer "substantial service" within the Western PA region (and other GMO regions) in the PCS G Block?

Ground mount LTE sites are doing just that -- reusing existing antennas with ground mounted LTE RRUs.  Antenna bandwidth is optimized for a certain range, but it does not start and stop on a dime.  And out of band emission filtration is further up the signal path.

 

AJ

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PCS G block. FCC buildout requirements are service code and license block specific.

 

Ground mount LTE sites are doing just that -- reusing existing antennas with ground mounted LTE RRUs.  Antenna bandwidth is optimized for a certain range, but it does not start and stop on a dime.  And out of band emission filtration is further up the signal path.

 

AJ

Interesting. But just to be clear, Sprint will have to at the very least offer GMO LTE (or even EV-DO/1xRTT) within the PCS G Block in State College and Erie, or they will risk losing their license. Is that correct?

 

And, as part of the WiMax shutdown that's happening soon, can Sprint just shut off protection sites without risk of losing the licenses? Or is Sprint required to continue offering some service within the 2.5 GHz licenses? I think this question was answered in another thread, and it was mentioned that the FCC may forget or want to ignore the requirements of SMR rebranding, but that other carrier's lawyers will most likely not.  

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Sprint will at a minimum set up G Block Protection Sites in Western PA market. And Sprint will need to keep EBS/BRS Protection Sites operating. They can keep them running on WiMax after the shutdown if they choose to. The WiMax shutdown is all about opening up spectrum for several channels of TD-LTE. In places they are not deploying LTE yet, they could keep it running. I wouldn't make that choice, but it's possible.

 

Or they could switch the WiMax Protection Sites to B41 LTE with just a site visit. All WiMax Protection Sites are deployed with Samsung or Huawei equipment that both are already capable of B41 TD-LTE. May be some CSFB issues to work through, but doable. I would at minimum do this over keeping WiMax running on them.

 

Ideally, Sprint should convert all WiMax Protection Sites to Full NV with LTE on all bands. And any other sites in those towns. But hey, who the hell am I? [emoji38]

 

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...and it was mentioned that the FCC may forget or want to ignore the requirements of SMR rebranding, but that other carrier's lawyers will most likely not.  

 

No, that is wishful thinking.  The major licensees do not attack one another over license protection -- because they all use license protection at times.  So, they do not want to invite FCC scrutiny of their own operations or retribution from fellow licensees.  

 

T-Mobile, for example, has operated a bare bones license protection network in top 100 market Omaha for over a decade now.  You cannot sign up for T-Mobile service in Omaha.  But some RF signal is live, and that is that.

 

So, I hope that you are not the type to complain about this.  Nothing will be done.  Just accept it.  It is what it is...

 

AJ

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I am not one to complain about Sprint service in State College. The thought of build out requirements just occurred to me recently, and I wanted some clarification, which I do thank you for.

 

While I am not happy that Sprint hasn't upgraded the Western PA market past GMO, as a Penn State student I could care less. Sprint 3G in the area is usually undercrowded, heck I am able to stream 1080p youtube videos over my phone. Speeds usually are above 2 Mbps, pings are a rough spot, usually around 130 ms. The reality is most students here could care less whether there's LTE or not, WiFi is everywhere.

 

The locals will never switch from their beloved Verizon or AT&T, even though T-Mobile has 15x15 Mhz LTE throughout most of the region. I mention T-Mobile because those who do complain now have a way out, T-Mobile. Most "Edge" only sites within the region have been converted to T-Mobile's full build sites, with Band 4 LTE. 

 

I don't expect Sprint to magically swoop in and convert GMOs to full NV builds, but at least I have clarification that the area must get service within the PCS G Block, even if it is just another 3G carrier.

 

Thank you for the clarification on the WiMax shutdown. I assumed it was a shutdown similar to Nextel's iDen, where everything would be shutdown. But now I understand that it is just an invitation to shutdown in major markets where Sprint wants more carriers for TDD-LTE

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I am not one to complain about Sprint service in State College. The thought of build out requirements just occurred to me recently, and I wanted some clarification, which I do thank you for.

 

While I am not happy that Sprint hasn't upgraded the Western PA market past GMO, as a Penn State student I could care less.

You sound like you have a healthy attitude about the situation. S4GRU's stance has always been that Sprint may not meet everyone's needs, and Sprint has no obligation to meet anyone's needs. We routinely encourage posters to explore other providers -- if appropriate.

 

That said, I am disappointed a major research university community like Penn State could be without Sprint LTE at this date.  And, sheesh, how the shoe is on the other foot about eight years later.  Circa 2007, I posted a clever thread at HowardForums on what I called something along the lines of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) of wireless.  In a series of posts, I logged native or roaming coverage and level of service at all universities in the Pac-10, Big 12, Big Ten, SEC, and ACC.

 

As I recall, Sprint came out on top, since Sprint had native coverage at every school -- and what was then state of the art EV-DO at most of them.  VZW was somewhere in the middle, as this was prior to the VZW-Alltel merger, so VZW still had roaming at a number of schools.  Meanwhile, AT&T and T-Mobile were weak.  AT&T was still lagging well behind in its W-CDMA deployment.  And T-Mobile, well, it was bad.  T-Mobile may have had more covered schools than AT&T, but T-Mobile had yet to launch any of its new AWS based W-CDMA.  So, any coverage was either GSM or roaming.

 

Thank you for the clarification on the WiMax shutdown. I assumed it was a shutdown similar to Nextel's iDen, where everything would be shutdown. But now I understand that it is just an invitation to shutdown in major markets where Sprint wants more carriers for TDD-LTE

Keep in mind that Sprint in State College holds no licensed BRS spectrum, only leased EBS spectrum.  So, that makes the WiMAX shutdown situation more tenuous.  The educational/religious organization lesser is the actual licensee that is subject to buildout requirements and license renewal.  Sprint is just the lessee and could walk away.

 

AJ

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Majority of college students don't pay for thier cell phone plans. Those that do likely cannot afford $60+ dollars a month for a phone. Grad students are even poorer (forgive my grammar). They would probably qualify for those lifeline phones. ROI is likely very low...even for a world class college like Penn State. Though WVU is better. ;)

Ntelos 3G in Morgantown is excellent - I could stream video, browse the web just as easily as an LTE connection.

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