T-Mobile LTE & Network Discussion

[jamisonshaw125]

I feel like much of this conversation could have been avoided with 800 mhz already being deployed and ready to use. Sprint better tout that up like its the icing on the cake (even though I hate icing). For someone that knows how sprint indoor coverage is to hear Sprint now has as excellent indoor coverage comparable to AT&T or Verizon??? Oh man, if it were me that could get me to switch that's for sure.

[avb]

Legere is absolutely a perfect CEO for T-Mobile's brand that was completely deteriorating over the past few years. He gets people excited again, and gets everyone to talk about the brand. Neville Ray and his team in less than 9 months delivered from zero to 209 Million PoPs of LTE, most Top 50 markets being 10Mhz FDD LTE, and Dallas being 20Mhz FDD LTE!!! All by end of 2013.

 

No matter how obnoxious he could be, I'd take his bluntness and people skills over Dan who doesn't really project any energy.

 

This'll be a very, very exciting 2014! Happy New Year all!!!

 

I agree.  I don't agree with everything Legere says when he bashes other networks/carriers, but he's adding excitement and shaking up the industry, which is good for consumers. 

Edited January 10, 2014 by avb

[S4GRU]

I think it's funny how you guys are always on T-Mobile talking about rural coverage and how much better sprint is when sprint barely has a rural footprint itself. Sprint needs to expand its footprint to be a real player in this country.

Oh stop it. We aren't comparing total footprint between Sprint and T-Mobile. They are very similar.

 

What we are comparing is the fact that Tmo leaves its outside urban sites as 2G. They have stayed as EDGE or GPRS for a decade. They didn't get upgraded to 3G nor 4G nor LTE.

 

Meanwhile Sprint upgraded all theirs to 3G (except for small amount of purchased sites), and Sprint is upgrading their entire network to LTE. Sprint already has thousands of rural sites already pumping out LTE.

 

So I think it's funny that you can be a Tmo apologist now. Why don't you go get Tmo service and go EDGE yourself? I have, so I'm speaking from experience.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

[S4GRU]

Sprint used to roam to Verizon. Is that still true today.? I always had great rural coverage because my phone would roam on Verizon and I don't think anyone would argue that their rural coverage isn't the best of any carrier.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Yea, and this is the other part. Sprint has great roaming coverage. Including Verizon. Not on LTE, of course.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

[TheForce627]

Oh stop it. We aren't comparing total footprint between Sprint and T-Mobile. They are very similar.

 

What we are comparing is the fact that Tmo leaves its outside urban sites as 2G. They have stayed as EDGE or GPRS for a decade. They didn't get upgraded to 3G nor 4G nor LTE.

 

Meanwhile Sprint upgraded all theirs to 3G (except for small amount of purchased sites), and Sprint is upgrading their entire network to LTE. Sprint already has thousands of rural sites already pumping out LTE.

 

So I think it's funny that you can be a Tmo apologist now. Why don't you go get Tmo service and go EDGE yourself? I have, so I'm speaking from experience.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

I guess I'm trolling because I'm stating the obvious. I like sprint but their rural is lacking and u know this because of the coverage at your home.

[WiWavelength]

I guess I'm trolling because I'm stating the obvious. I like sprint but their rural is lacking and u know this because of the coverage at your home.

No, here is the obvious conclusion. If you want native coverage seemingly everywhere, go on over to VZW or AT&T. They repeatedly bought up a quarter century of Cellular 850 MHz deployment for nearly ubiquitous footprint. Sprint and T-Mobile are never going to match that. Never. So, stop harping on it. Otherwise, you are indeed trolling.

 

AJ

[cdk]

Meanwhile Sprint upgraded all theirs to 3G (except for small amount of purchased sites), and Sprint is upgrading their entire network to LTE. Sprint already has thousands of rural sites already pumping out LTE.

 

If I am not mistaken those purchased sites have received their 3G upgrades at this point in time (or at least 99% of them).

[S4GRU]

Definitely some great points here and as I consumer I agree. The issue with T-Mobile is they simply can't see deploying ANY "G" into rural areas being cost effective without low band spectrum. Now 700A which will have 3x the reach of their AWS LTE, meaning 3x less cell sites needed for the same coverage, is something that allows them to start thinking and talking about rural footprint. This is crucial.

 

Just look at Sprint. They've committed to deploying PCS G to all of their sites. It's taking extremely long to put it nicely, and they still aren't at 200 million pops or north of 90 out of top 100 markets covered. It's been 2+ years since the announcement of NV.

That strategy is hurting Sprint, and T-Mobile isn't willing to to that path. They're making a surgical push into the highly populated areas with the best they've got, and in return they're getting insane amount of net adds.

 

Legere is absolutely a perfect CEO for T-Mobile's brand that was completely deteriorating over the past few years. He gets people excited again, and gets everyone to talk about the brand. Neville Ray and his team in less than 9 months delivered from zero to 209 Million PoPs of LTE, most Top 50 markets being 10Mhz FDD LTE, and Dallas being 20Mhz FDD LTE!!! All by end of 2013.

 

No matter how obnoxious he could be, I'd take his bluntness and people skills over Dan who doesn't really project any energy.

 

This'll be a very, very exciting 2014! Happy New Year all!!!

It's not the rural sites that took a lot of time or expense for Sprint. Those sites are easy. It's the urban sites that are killing Sprint. They started with the biggest and most urban markets first. And they still aren't done with them. Yet they have blown through smaller rural markets started much later.

 

Besides, my point was in response to irev210's comments that Tmo has tons of money and doesn't have to worry about the outrageous cost of buying subs. If they have money to burn and now that they are largely complete with LTE, they should be announcing the final push into rural areas. Just complete their network.

 

If Tmo did that, none of us would have anything left to complain about. It would relegate Sprint and AT&T to the bottom of wireless carriers for a decade.

 

They don't need 700 to install LTE on non urban sites now. They have the spectrum. Add 700 when/if they can in the future. I don't buy Tmo will even add 700 outside urban areas anyway. Are they going to just add non urban coverage in the handful of markets they have 700 and just continue to neglect the rest of the country? If so, what kind of solution is that?

 

They need upgraded backhaul to their entire network. Add at least WCDMA to each of those sites and preferrably LTE too. And when and if they get 700, overlay it. They seem to be really good at overlays anyway.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

[S4GRU]

I guess I'm trolling because I'm stating the obvious. I like sprint but their rural is lacking and u know this because of the coverage at your home.

I don't live in a rural area. I live in a non coverage market. But you know what? I used to live in a rural area for 4 years in New Mexico. I had Sprint 3G which ran over 2Mbps. I had Tmo EDGE that ran at 100kbps.

 

And this is how it is over Sprint's rural footprint. You get either 3G or LTE. And on Tmo, you get EDGE or GPRS. Occasionally I will find WCDMA without upgraded backhaul that runs at 200-400k.

 

It's sad that Sprint's legacy 3G network in rural areas kicks Tmo's ass. Mile after mile after mile. And that's a fact, Jack.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

[S4GRU]

If I am not mistaken those purchased sites have received their 3G upgrades at this point in time (or at least 99% of them).

Yes, but if I didn't add that caveat, someone would come along and say, what about the 100 sites in Nebraska, Northern Indiana and NE Penn that never got EVDO.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

[WiWavelength]

Also a decision to go Outide-In instead of Inside-Out really lowers the amount of pops that can actually experience LTE service. Considering the pace of Sprint's footprint expansion in G block, we could also understand why T-Mobile isn't interested to spend all their money on rural deployment without low band spectrum.

 

Milan, to be clear, Network Vision is not following an "outside-in" approach -- though it may seem that way in some areas.  Rather, since Network Vision is coming to all Sprint sites, those that are ready with backhaul get their upgrades first.  And those ready sites tend to be a mix of urban and rural.  So, I would call it more of a "whack a mole" approach -- one designed to upgrade each site as it pops up, hence finish the entire network as soon as possible.  It certainly does not prioritize large markets the way that T-Mobile has done.  Had Sprint followed the popular T-Mobile approach, Network Vision overall would have taken longer to complete.

 

AJ

[WiWavelength]

Yes, but if I didn't add that caveat, someone would come along and say, what about the 100 sites in Nebraska, Northern Indiana and NE Penn that never got EVDO.

 

And unless I am forgetting another stodgy affiliate, those CDMA1X only sites are all iPCS legacy.

 

AJ

[S4GRU]

And unless I am forgetting another stodgy affiliate, those CDMA1X only sites are all iPCS legacy.

 

AJ

Arguably one of the worst affiliates of all. Although, the list is not full of sunshine and happiness.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

[lynyrd65]

Definitely some great points here and as I consumer I agree. The issue with T-Mobile is they simply can't see deploying ANY "G" into rural areas being cost effective without low band spectrum. Now 700A which will have 3x the reach of their AWS LTE, meaning 3x less cell sites needed for the same coverage, is something that allows them to start thinking and talking about rural footprint. This is crucial. 

 

Just look at Sprint. They've committed to deploying PCS G to all of their sites. It's taking extremely long to put it nicely, and they still aren't at 200 million pops or north of 90 out of top 100 markets covered. It's been 2+ years since the announcement of NV.

That strategy is hurting Sprint, and T-Mobile isn't willing to to that path. They're making a surgical push into the highly populated areas with the best they've got, and in return they're getting insane amount of net adds.

 

Legere is absolutely a perfect CEO for T-Mobile's brand that was completely deteriorating over the past few years. He gets people excited again, and gets everyone to talk about the brand. Neville Ray and his team in less than 9 months delivered from zero to 209 Million PoPs of LTE, most Top 50 markets being 10Mhz FDD LTE, and Dallas being 20Mhz FDD LTE!!! All by end of 2013.

 

No matter how obnoxious he could be, I'd take his bluntness and people skills over Dan who doesn't really project any energy.

 

This'll be a very, very exciting 2014! Happy New Year all!!!

 

 

You know what's scary to think about?  What if Legere would get off his asshat and committed to taking LTE across all of his EDGE/GPRS sites across the country?  How uncarrier would that be??

 

Like you mention earlier, Tmo can piss off billions in cash to get customers, but why doesn't it do that too?  It would cost another 2 Billion or so.  So what?  You said they can afford that.  It would take AT&T's coverage argument away, and it would likely crush Sprint.  And they can even do that without 700.  But with 700 assets, they could really shine in many rural areas.  I'm not even talking about new coverage.  Just convert all their existing 2G sites.

 

If Tmo converted their entire network AND densified their urban network, then they would be unstoppable.  Why does he talk all the talk, but stop here?  Put your magenta t-shirt where your mouth is Legere!  He could shut us all up with a 30 minute board meeting.  Even Dan Hesse had the courage to take the upgrade to the whole network.

 

Robert

 

 

 

My 2 cents,

 

I love what T-Mobile is doing with uncarrier. It makes the most sense plan wise and if it weren't for their coverage the plans would satisfy everything I want from a plan.

 

That being said, I am disappointed that T-Mobile feels they have to wait until they have low band spectrum before they upgrade their rural foot print. I think I know why, (islets of coverage to due GSM sites being spaced out to their maximum), but even islets of coverage would be better to have in the interim and I don't think in the case of HSPA they would be.

 

Its true that T-Mobile's 700mhz A-Block licenses are limited to a few areas but I truely believe they will buy more. If you look at who owns the majority of the A-Block spectrum, its not small operators like US Cellular, it's not big operators like Verizon but spectrum holdings companies like Cavalier. If and when T-Mobile buys that spectrum it will have as much nationwide licensing available as they want (except where US Cellular has already deployed it which makes a good case for being acquired by T-Mo).

 

I think T-Mobile has waited too long to be able to kill Sprint though. I expect a quick bounce back to relevance in the speed competition with 800mhz (just because of the higher signal strength, which I believe to be one of Sprints main issues).

[milan03]

It's not the rural sites that took a lot of time or expense for Sprint. Those sites are easy. It's the urban sites that are killing Sprint. They started with the biggest and most urban markets first. And they still aren't done with them. Yet they have blown through smaller rural markets started much later.

 

Besides, my point was in response to irev210's comments that Tmo has tons of money and doesn't have to worry about the outrageous cost of buying subs. If they have money to burn and now that they are largely complete with LTE, they should be announcing the final push into rural areas. Just complete their network.

 

If Tmo did that, none of us would have anything left to complain about. It would relegate Sprint and AT&T to the bottom of wireless carriers for a decade.

 

They don't need 700 to install LTE on non urban sites now. They have the spectrum. Add 700 when/if they can in the future. I don't buy Tmo will even add 700 outside urban areas anyway. Are they going to just add non urban coverage in the handful of markets they have 700 and just continue to neglect the rest of the country? If so, what kind of solution is that?

 

They need upgraded backhaul to their entire network. Add at least WCDMA to each of those sites and preferrably LTE too. And when and if they get 700, overlay it. They seem to be really good at overlays anyway.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

Robert, yeah you're right, it's not that difficult to deploy a cell site or two to a small rural town and call it covered. But it's much harder and less cost effective connecting those small rural hotspots and creating extended and meaningful coverage in rural America using mid band like PCS or AWS. It would cost much more and take much longer to get it to the same level of coverage as Verizon + LTEiRA for example.

T-Mobile had a limited budget and they've made a conscious decision to invest into markets where they can be competitive with the spectrum and infrastructure they've got. And it looks like they've delivered. I don't think their budget would allow them to deploy everywhere at once, so they've had to gamble.

[S4GRU]

My 2 cents,

 

I love what T-Mobile is doing with uncarrier. It makes the most sense plan wise and if it weren't for their coverage the plans would satisfy everything I want from a plan.

 

That being said, I am disappointed that T-Mobile feels they have to wait until they have low band spectrum before they upgrade their rural foot print. I think I know why, (islets of coverage to due GSM sites being spaced out to their maximum), but even islets of coverage would be better to have in the interim and I don't think in the case of HSPA they would be.

 

Its true that T-Mobile's 700mhz A-Block licenses are limited to a few areas but I truely believe they will buy more. If you look at who owns the majority of the A-Block spectrum, its not small operators like US Cellular, it's not big operators like Verizon but spectrum holdings companies like Cavalier. If and when T-Mobile buys that spectrum it will have as much nationwide licensing available as they want (except where US Cellular has already deployed it which makes a good case for being acquired by T-Mo).

 

I think T-Mobile has waited too long to be able to kill Sprint though. I expect a quick bounce back to relevance in the speed competition with 800mhz (just because of the higher signal strength, which I believe to be one of Sprints main issues).

So now the non urban plan is IF they get more 700 spectrum. Lovely. The real problem here is Tmo has no plans or announcements whatsoever for the issues that exist outside their large markets. When pressed about it Legere changes the subject. Although he did say recently that they will do something about it in the future.

 

Tmo gets credit for doing something about rural coverage because he says something extremely vague like "future" and we can maschinate a way for him to do it in the future. That's crazy. We would never give Sprint or anyone else the benefit of the doubt just by waving a hand and saying future. It's OK, we can trust him.

 

I can come up with a plan for Tmo outside their urban centers. So can Milan. So can you. But what are Tmo's plans? Future...and beyond! And if you find Legere's mythical 137Mbps speeds, DON'T MOVE!

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

[S4GRU]

Robert, yeah you're right, it's not that difficult to deploy a cell site or two to a small rural town and call it covered. But it's much harder and less cost effective connecting those small rural hotspots and creating extended and meaningful coverage in rural America using mid band like PCS or AWS. It would cost much more and take much longer to get it to the same level of coverage as Verizon + LTEiRA for example.

T-Mobile had a limited budget and they've made a conscious decision to invest into markets where they can be competitive with the spectrum and infrastructure they've got. And it looks like they've delivered. I don't think their budget would allow them to deploy everywhere at once, so they've had to gamble.

It is definitely better to use lower spectrum than higher spectrum frequencies in rural areas. But this is not just corn fields in Iowa. It is everywhere that does not have WCDMA or LTE. This is the edge of countless suburbs. This is dozens of cities with 50,000+ people. It's not just highways and farms.

 

And Tmo still has a very limited 700 strategy. So far, they do not have a comprehensive 700 solution. They have a limited boutique solution with 700. Like I said in a post above, we are left with only speculation that 700 COULD be used in a Tmo non urban LTE deployment scenario. This is just a guess that Tmo will do it. They may just use 700 to provide better in building performance in existing coverage areas. The mother of all overlays.

 

We don't know. My guess is as good as yours. We both are intelligent industry observers with good technical understandings. But you're guessing as much as me at this point. Because that's all we're left with. Guessing.

 

But I'll end with this one last thought... One thing Legere is good at is talking. Talking about everything. Talking about plans. We knew about their urban LTE plan before it all started. Yet, he remains quiet about what he will do about all the 2G coverage he has out there. Why is that the only thing Legere won't talk about?

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

[WiWavelength]

Robert, yeah you're right, it's not that difficult to deploy a cell site or two to a small rural town and call it covered. But it's much harder and less cost effective connecting those small rural hotspots and creating extended and meaningful coverage in rural America using mid band like PCS or AWS. It would cost much more and take much longer to get it to the same level of coverage as Verizon + LTEiRA for example.

T-Mobile had a limited budget and they've made a conscious decision to invest into markets where they can be competitive with the spectrum and infrastructure they've got. And it looks like they've delivered. I don't think their budget would allow them to deploy everywhere at once, so they've had to gamble.

 

See my comments on Kevin's recent Gigaom article.  For convenience, I have copied them below.  The issue is that too many people think the Lower 700 MHz A block acquisition means that T-Mobile now can or will "modernize" its rural footprint.

 

On the "can" part, T-Mobile can already do it now in existing PCS or AWS spectrum.  After all, those highway and rural sites have spacing for GSM 1900; that should also be more than sufficient for, at the very least, W-CDMA 1900.

 

As for the "will" part, Robert has pointed out numerous times that T-Mobile will not commit to any time frame.  It just ambiguously references the "future."

 

Honestly, if this is a cost issue, maybe T-Mobile should just let the leases lapse on those highway and rural GSM only sites.  After six years of no "modernization," they are practically worthless to users in this day and age.  I even read one T-Mobile user write that he just treats those areas as if his handset has no service.  So, T-Mobile can just cut bait on those sites, save hundreds of millions in OPEX, and show its true colors as the ciTy-Mobile "uncarrier."

 

Kevin, I started to engage you on Twitter, but I will expound at greater length here. I have some qualms about two of the statements in your article:

 

“These low-frequency airwaves will let T-Mobile build wide-sweeping networks to fill in those gaps.”

 

“If T-Mobile truly wants to shed its reputation as being a city-only service provider, it will have to buy a lot more airwaves.”

 

The truth is that T-Mobile has thousands of moderately to exceedingly rural GSM only sites that have long been just languishing. T-Mobile does not require additional spectrum to “modernize” those sites for W-CDMA and/or LTE; it just needs new base station infrastructure and advanced backhaul.

 

However, T-Mobile has shown remarkably little interest in extending 3G/4G services to even its existing 2G network outside of its urban/suburban comfort zones — though that could be readily accomplished with T-Mobile’s existing stash of PCS and AWS spectrum.

 

Do you see that strategy changing because of the Lower 700 MHz A block acquisitions? I get the implication from your article that you might. But I feel that is wishful thinking.

 

With the MetroPCS merger and its myriad AWS spectrum acquisitions over the past two years, T-Mobile seems to have hunkered down as the high capacity city provider. I do not see that changing with Lower 700 MHz.

 

Instead, T-Mobile will stay the course by focusing on improving urban/suburban signal density — especially in building coverage — through its first substantial sub 1 GHz spectrum supply.

Kevin, yes, I do not think that this is purely a capacity play. After all, it is just a 6 MHz FDD block. Moreover, T-Mobile is giving up some AWS spectrum to get it. And I think that T-Mobile actually has fairly good rural and highway footprint — in the eastern half of the country, at least. But the problem is that most of that coverage is still GSM only.

 

I will use a recent, relevant example. I drove roundtrip to Indianapolis this past weekend, and I am both a T-Mobile sub and a Sprint sub. Along I-70 between Kansas City and Indianapolis, Sprint has EV-DO the entire stretch and LTE most of the way, soon to be all of the way. In contrast, T-Mobile has only GSM for about 80 percent of that Interstate corridor, just islands of W-CDMA and/or LTE every 30-100 miles.

 

Now, Lower 700 MHz is not the key to solving that problem. “Modernization” is the crucial component, and since site spacing is already set up for PCS, that could be achieved in current PCS and AWS spectrum. Again, see Sprint. That aforementioned extensive LTE along I-70 is band 25 LTE 1900. Band 26 LTE 800 is also being deployed as we speak, but it is not necessary to the complete overlay plan.

 

From T-Mobile, we have yet to see such a plan, and I do not think it is forthcoming. I suppose Lower 700 MHz could be the catalyst for a rural and highway focused initiative, but as I have pointed out, it is not required to do as Sprint is doing.

 

Thus, I return to my original thesis. T-Mobile views the Lower 700 MHz acquisition primarily as a means to compete with the far greater signal propagation of VZW’s Upper 700 MHz, AT&T’s Lower 700 MHz, and Sprint’s SMR 800 MHz in urban/suburban areas. Further evidence of this is in T-Mobile’s own presentation yesterday with the emphasis on the spectrum to be acquired in the top 10 and top 30 markets, which make up a disproportionate 70 percent of the T-Mobile customer base.

 

http://gigaom.com/2014/01/06/why-t-mobile-wants-verizons-discarded-4g-airwaves/

 

AJ

[JossMan]

T-Mobile LTE where are they deploying it, because its not around here. Only the big three have LTE service here, T-Mobile only has EDGE and I believe they MAY have 3G in Kingsport, TN but I'm not 100% sure.  T-Mobile has ignored this area when it comes to network upgrades.  I don't see how they can sell smartphones in this area when they are still on a redundant 2G EDGE network.  Maybe one day they will get to this area, but I won't be leaving Sprint not with all the time, effort, and resources they have put in to their new network. 

[milan03]

See my comments on Kevin's recent Gigaom article.  For convenience, I have copied them below.  The issue is that too many people think the Lower 700 MHz A block acquisition means that T-Mobile now can or will "modernize" its rural footprint.

 

On the "can" part, T-Mobile can already do it now in existing PCS or AWS spectrum.  After all, those highway and rural sites have spacing for GSM 1900; that should also be more than sufficient for, at the very least, W-CDMA 1900.

 

As for the "will" part, Robert has pointed out numerous times that T-Mobile will not commit to any time frame.  It just ambiguously references the "future."

 

Honestly, if this is a cost issue, maybe T-Mobile should just let the leases lapse on those highway and rural GSM only sites.  After six years of no "modernization," they are practically worthless to users in this day and age.  I even read one T-Mobile user write that he just treats those areas as if his handset has no service.  So, T-Mobile can just cut bait on those sites, save hundreds of millions in OPEX, and show its true colors as the ciTy-Mobile "uncarrier."

 

http://gigaom.com/2014/01/06/why-t-mobile-wants-verizons-discarded-4g-airwaves/

 

AJ

I think they're actually deploying LTE and WCDMA along the highways in the northeast. I was surprised myself but there is a post on HoFo of someone driving from NYC to Baltimore connected mostly to LTE with a few pockets of EDGE. I'll try finding it.

[S4GRU]

I think they're actually deploying LTE and WCDMA along the highways in the northeast. I was surprised myself but there is a post on HoFo of someone driving from NYC to Baltimore connected mostly to LTE with a few pockets of EDGE. I'll try finding it.

Were these sites converted from EDGE or GPRS? It would not be news if those sites were WCDMA and now converted to LTE.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

[milan03]

Were these sites converted from EDGE or GPRS? It would not be news if those sites were WCDMA and now converted to LTE.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

About 6 months ago I took that trip to DC and there was a lot more EDGE. No LTE at all. WCDMA would kick in only when getting close to metropolitan areas.

[S4GRU]

About 6 months ago I took that trip to DC and there was a lot more EDGE. No LTE at all. WCDMA would kick in only when getting close to metropolitan areas.

How did it run? We had a good dozen or so rural WCDMA sites in New Mexico that ran at 200-400k. According to Neal, he says that when a a Tmo 2G site base station has to receive significant maintenance or replacement, it is upgraded to WCDMA, but left on the existing backhaul. This added a lot of WCDMA coverage, but not a significant net improvement in performance.

 

Don't get me wrong, I appreciated the places where I was not limited to EDGE 100k speeds and 1000ms ping. It was a better experience to get 400k and a 300ms ping. But it was only on one site in this county, and another two counties away. And it still wasn't as good as Sprint legacy 3G in these same areas.

 

I'm still not convinced there is a full blown and actionable Tmo plan to modernize its non urban network. If they were doing it now, they would say so. It wouldn't just be "future".

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Keitarou]

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2429285,00.asp

 

What do you guys think?

[lynyrd65]

 

So now the non urban plan is IF they get more 700 spectrum. Lovely. The real problem here is Tmo has no plans or announcements whatsoever for the issues that exist outside their large markets. When pressed about it Legere changes the subject. Although he did say recently that they will do something about it in the future.

 

Tmo gets credit for doing something about rural coverage because he says something extremely vague like "future" and we can maschinate a way for him to do it in the future. That's crazy. We would never give Sprint or anyone else the benefit of the doubt just by waving a hand and saying future. It's OK, we can trust him.

 

I can come up with a plan for Tmo outside their urban centers. So can Milan. So can you. But what are Tmo's plans? Future...and beyond! And if you find Legere's mythical 137Mbps speeds, DON'T MOVE!

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

This is why for my main line, I can't use T-Mobile.

 

All I meant to say is there is a possibility and a way that T-Mobile can improve if they decide to do it.

 

One thing that interests me is T-Mobile's promise to deploy in Q4 2014 with what they bought. If its true channel 51 issues must have been resolved by that time.