T-Mobile LTE & Network Discussion

[coorsleftfield]

Do they come back and optimize B25 sites at some point?  We have some very strong B25 sites, and other that have such low range that they are unusable after just a few blocks.  Was wondering if these will get revisited at some point ? 

[S4GRU]

Do they come back and optimize B25 sites at some point? We have some very strong B25 sites, and other that have such low range that they are unusable after just a few blocks. Was wondering if these will get revisited at some point ?

Yes, B25 gets optimized too. Some may have short range by design.

 

If the cell or sector requires a dense signal, because of a lot of subs in an area or an event that occurs, they will make the cell smaller. They have years of past data on sites to know where they may need to do this.

 

In these instances, they may be planning on B26 to carry in between a short B25 signal to adjacent LTE sites.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

[Deval]

I don't know if 800 LTE would improve things terribly (although in a lot of Georgia the GMOs don't even have any LTE active, probably due to backhaul), but 800 1X would at least get you basic fill-in service further into the rural areas along I-16 and I-75.

 

To identify one local example, Cochran GA (pop around 5k, with around 3k college students) is at the verge of Sprint 1900 coverage due to GMOs on I-16 and in Hawkinsville, leading to signal bouncing between roaming on Alltel and Verizon and native within town, but would probably have solid outdoor 800 coverage even with the existing sites.

 

Of course what Sprint really should do in Cochran is deploy NV on the ex-Nextel site on the bypass. I'm pretty sure the old Nextel equipment is still sitting up on that tower; I hope at least they switched off the power...

 

Interesting, I wonder if there is a plan to upgrade from GMO to full build eventually.

 

[vryan44]

T-Mobile has been pretty serious about converting metro pcs sites to modernized NSN equipment to further density their network around here in the Detroit area. I seen 3 specific sites in the past couple weeks. If sprint did this with a handful of old nextel sites I'm thinking of, LTE coverage without band 26 would be golden.

[cletus]

I guess I will post here too... not sure which thread this goes in:

http://newsroom.t-mobile.com/news/company-news/4x-the-data.htm

 

$45 for 2 GB of Data. This undercuts Sprint family share pricing (2 GB for $25+$25 line fee) by $5.

 

http://newsroom.t-mobile.com/news/10-line-family-plan.htm

 

10 lines for just $10 per line after the second subscriber.  

 

http://newsroom.t-mobile.com/news/double-your-data-tablet.htm

 

Double data when you add a tablet..

 

I wonder how Sprint will respond, if at all?

[Deval]

I'm sure they will.

 

What's great is that our moves are actually making waves.

[twospirits]

I'm sure they will.

 

What's great is that our moves are actually making waves.

That is true, seems the Uncarrier is getting unraveled and is now doing the following. 

[WiWavelength]

I guess I will post here too... not sure which thread this goes in:

http://newsroom.t-mobile.com/news/company-news/4x-the-data.htm

 

 

T-Mobile has more network capacity per customer−and a remarkable 70 percent more network spectrum per customer than even Verizon−with its network concentrated in the places people need data the most.

 

This is a telling sentence from the T-Mobile press release.  It is basically euphemism for "We lag behind in subscribers, so we have more spectrum than we need.  Additionally, we cater to the urban yuppies and poor people but no one outside the city limits." 

 

AJ

[cletus]

This is a telling sentence from the T-Mobile press release.  It is basically euphemism for "We lag behind in subscribers, so we have more spectrum than we need.  Additionally, we cater to the urban yuppies and poor people but no one outside the city limits." 

 

AJ

I agree but for many people an urban carrier is sufficient and T-Mobile does provide excellent speeds and coverage in those areas. I frequently travel outside city limits or else I might consider T-Mobile. I tried them out about a year and a half ago and had actual dead zones of zero coverage. There are some places near me that only Sprint and Verizon reach.

[WiWavelength]

I agree but for many people an urban carrier is sufficient and T-Mobile does provide excellent speeds and coverage in those areas.

 

Yes, and I gave due to those contingents:  urban yuppies and poor people.  I could have used less politically correct terms, but I kept it kosher.

 

The unfair situation is that Sprint gets read the riot act from both sides -- Sprint service is not fast enough in cities, and Sprint has inadequate rural coverage.  In those regards, Sprint is actually far more balanced than T-Mobile is, but people in this country do not seem to know what the middle is any longer.

 

AJ

[coorsleftfield]

My friends on tmobile seem very satisfied with their service, even ones that switched from AT&T . One of them is a sales rep and travels all over the state. I doubt she is a heavy data user.

[S4GRU]

I agree but for many people an urban carrier is sufficient and T-Mobile does provide excellent speeds and coverage in those areas. I frequently travel outside city limits or else I might consider T-Mobile. I tried them out about a year and a half ago and had actual dead zones of zero coverage. There are some places near me that only Sprint and Verizon reach.

This is not always the case. Check out the comparison in the New York City thread. Sprint compared pretty well with t-mobile.

 

Robert via Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[milan03]

This is not always the case. Check out the comparison in the New York City thread. Sprint compared pretty well with t-mobile.

 

Robert via Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Not so sure about that NYC comparison since T-Mobile currently has way more MHz/pop deployed, less subs, has three competent data layers 75Mbps LTE -> HSPA+42 -> HSPA+21, cell density is second to none in this market with ~99% cell sites modernized with active fiber backhaul in place. I wouldn't compare Sprint's experience to T-Mobile's, at least not in New York City.

 

On the brighter side, here is the T-Mobile 700MHz deployment in Silver Spring, MA: http://imgur.com/a/rz9SQ

[JeffDTD]

There are still plenty of things that Marcelo can do without further tarnishing ARPU.  

 

Rollover data......  please?     

[S4GRU]

Not so sure about that NYC comparison since T-Mobile currently has way more MHz/pop deployed, less subs, has three competent data layers 75Mbps LTE -> HSPA+42 -> HSPA+21, cell density is second to none in this market with ~99% cell sites modernized with active fiber backhaul in place. I wouldn't compare Sprint's experience to T-Mobile's, at least not in New York City.

 

On the brighter side, here is the T-Mobile 700MHz deployment in Silver Spring, MA: http://imgur.com/a/rz9SQ

Milan, with all due respect, read the comparison. The point of the comparison was not about Sprint trouncing Tmo's so called Wideband LTE where it was available. It was comparing Sprint LTE coverage right now using the Tmo Test Drive. He showed in his use there just wasn't much difference from Sprint and Tmo for his needs. Sprint LTE is performing well in many parts of NYC and getting better daily.

 

He wasn't trying to find out who has highest peak speeds. But even that is changing. Tmo peak speeds are coming down and Sprint's are going up. And that is a fact. Highlighted that Sprint was on top in Manhattan on NetIndex last week.

 

If you really are a fan of networks and competition as you say, these points should make you giddy.

 

Robert via Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[milan03]

Milan, with all due respect, read the comparison. The point of the comparison was not about Sprint trouncing Tmo's so called Wideband LTE where it was available. It was comparing Sprint LTE coverage right now using the Tmo Test Drive. He showed in his use there just wasn't much difference from Sprint and Tmo for his needs. Sprint LTE is performing well in many parts of NYC and getting better daily.

 

He wasn't trying to find out who has highest peak speeds. But even that is changing. Tmo peak speeds are coming down and Sprint's are going up. And that is a fact. Highlighted that Sprint was on top in Manhattan on NetIndex last week.

 

If you really are a fan of networks and competition as you say, these points should make you giddy.

 

Robert via Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Robert, with all due respect, I've been comparing all 4 wireless operators myself for the past 2 years in New York City market. I'm telling you how it is here. I do appreciate his 7-day TestDrive comparison, it is one opinion testing the portion of the market, but keep in mind NYC is a huge urban area, and the operators without ubiquitous low band blanket need to deploy dense on PCS/AWS/BRS to tackle the capacity demand. 

 

Sprint is definitely getting better as more B41 sites are coming on air, but due to inadequate cell density at the moment, that airlink just isn't able to provide consistent user experience across the market. Often times users are camping on G block which as you know is oversold, and now further loaded with all those MVNO subs. That also further shrinks the cell and forces subs onto EVDO, etc.

 

T-Mobile on the other hand still hasn't upgraded the bandwidth to many of their NYC cell sites, many of them capped at 50Mbps some of them at 100Mbps. Once that's re-provisioned, and MetroPCS CDMA shut down, 15MHz FDD LTE will provide even more capacity, and MetroPCS significant DAS deployment will further densify already very dense grid.

 

Obviously I'd love to see Sprint get their stuff together and get serious about all that 2.5GHz spectrum, and there isn't a more perfect market to test the TDD tech than NYC. It simply just isn't up to par YET.

[S4GRU]

Robert, I've been comparing all 4 wireless operators myself for the past 2 years in New York City market. I'm telling you how it is here. I do appreciate his testDrive comparison, it is one opinion testing the portion of the market, but keep in mind NYC is a huge urban market, and the operators without ubiquitous low band blanket need to deploy dense on PCS/AWS/BRS.

 

Sprint is definitely getting better as more B41 sites are coming on air, but due to inadequate cell density at the moment, that airlink just isn't able to provide consistent user experience across the market. Often times users are camping on G block which as you know is oversold with all the MVNO subs. That also further shrinks the cell and forces subs onto EVDO, etc.

 

T-Mobile on the other hand still hasn't upgraded the bandwidth to many of their NYC cell sites, many of them capped at 50Mbps some of them at 100Mbps. Once that's re-provisioned, and MetroPCS CDMA shut down, 15MHz FDD LTE will provide even more capacity, and MetroPCS significant DAS deployment will further densify already very dense grid.

 

Obviously I'd love to see Sprint get their stuff together and get serious about all that 2.5GHz spectrum, and there isn't a more perfect market to test the TDD tech than NYC. It just simple is not up to par YET.

To try counter someone's opinion about Sprint service at a Sprint based website in a way that you are doing is almost trolling. Milan, people are getting happier with their Sprint service even in New York City. Deal with it! And NetIndex bears it out.

 

Tmo ain't the shit, yo!

 

Robert via Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[milan03]

To try counter someone's opinion about Sprint service at a Sprint based website in a way that you are doing is almost trolling. Milan, people are getting happier with their Sprint service even in New York City. Deal with it! And NetIndex bears it out.

 

Tmo ain't the shit, yo!

 

Robert via Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Haha I hear ya! I am certainly glad that Sprint's subs are getting happier as they've stuck with the operator through thick and thin. Much respect.

 

I am offering my own personal experience from my own market, fully respecting your site and it's nature. There wasn't any trolling involved in my posts, but I'm sorry that you've felt that way.

[lilotimz]

Haha I hear ya! I am certainly glad that Sprint's subs are getting happier as they've stuck with the operator through thick and thin. Much respect.

 

I am offering my own personal experience from my own market, fully respecting your site and it's nature. There wasn't any trolling involved in my posts, but I'm sorry that you've felt that way.

Do you happen to know if they're using the air32s or air21s for band 12?

 

I can probably find out when and if they're doing a deployment in CA and know what to look for.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[S4GRU]

Haha I hear ya! I am certainly glad that Sprint's subs are getting happier as they've stuck with the operator through thick and thin. Much respect.

 

I am offering my own personal experience from my own market, fully respecting your site and it's nature. There wasn't any trolling involved in my posts, but I'm sorry that you've felt that way.

You're fine. I said almost trolling. Just let the Sprint subs have their day. That's all.

 

Robert via Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[milan03]

Do you happen to know if they're using the air32s or air21s for band 12?

 

I can probably find out when and if they're doing a deployment in CA and know what to look for.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

My local contact have mentioned Air 32's and the deployment in Long Island market starting in September, but considering that AT&T and Verizon have been deploying taller AIR21's for 700MHz, I wouldn't be surprised to see those as well.

 

The main issue is the weight of taller AIR21's as many NYC rooftop sites would fail the load. AIR32's are way heavier so that's why they'll be starting with suburban monopoles in LI area and Westchester.

[WiWavelength]

Do you happen to know if they're using the air32s or air21s for band 12?

 

I can probably find out when and if they're doing a deployment in CA and know what to look for.

 

Just FYI, watch out with the "CA" reference.  Write out California.  Otherwise, some will think the "CA" refers to carrier aggregation.

 

AJ

[Rawvega]

 

That also further shrinks the cell and forces subs onto EVDO, etc.

 

 

I was always led to believe that LTE cells didn't suffer from the 'breathing' phenomenon in the same way that CDMA and W-CDMA cells do. Is that incorrect?

[milan03]

I was always led to believe that LTE cells didn't suffer from the 'breathing' phenomenon in the same way that CDMA and W-CDMA cells do. Is that incorrect?

They actually do, Shammo or Lowell (can't remember) was talking about Verizon's LTE issues a few quarters ago during the conference call. In theory some will tell you that there isn't an issue, but on a fully loaded cell the issue is real.

[dnicekid]

Looks like charlie is going after tmo now.http://m.seekingalpha.com/article/2452305-dish-moving-beyond-pay-television?source=email_rt_article_readmore&app=1&uprof=51

 

 

And att or Tmo buying freedompop???