Is Sprint still on track to utilize Clearwire LTE in 2013?

[ericdabbs]

Is Sprint still on track to begin using Clearwire LTE sometime in 2013 according to their agreement in Dec 2011? OR do they have wait until the Sprint/Softbank/Clearwire merger transaction is finalized first?

 

There hasn't been much talk about Clearwire LTE progress other than as of Q4 2012 they have around 1,000 sites upgraded to TD-LTE and still on track to have 2,000 sites upgraded to TD-LTE by June 2013. There is still no word as to which markets these 2,000 sites will entail. Hopefully Clearwire can provide more color at their 2013 Q1 CC.

 

Sprint/Clearwire agreement in Dec 2011

http://corporate.clearwire.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=629282

[RichardXy]

There was so much talk of it being mainly a software upgrade that it seems like they should be on track.

[lynyrd65]

There are threads here about it though I've had issues finding them. The outlook isn't exciting and quite honestly pretty grim.

 

Sprint has said they won't have any TD-LTE devices until late 2013 and no real flagships until 2014. Given that SMR support is predicated on TD-LTE support per their comments about skipping SMR dual band devices for tri-band LTE devices, I'm more than a little disappointed in their device strategy.

[ericdabbs]

There are threads here about it though I've had issues finding them. The outlook isn't exciting and quite honestly pretty grim.

 

Sprint has said they won't have any TD-LTE devices until late 2013 and no real flagships until 2014. Given that SMR support is predicated on TD-LTE support per their comments about skipping SMR dual band devices for tri-band LTE devices, I'm more than a little disappointed in their device strategy.

 

Now I am even more confident that we probably won't see the Galaxy S4 have 800 and/or 2500 MHz LTE support that would make the S4 phone even more of a must have. The Galaxy S4 will still sell well no doubt but us nerds on this forum will be disappointed in that aspect.

 

If Sprint follows their word in that we won't see tri band LTE devices until late 2013, I can see the Note 3 being the first tri band LTE phone since it won't be launched until late October (based on Note 2 launch date) or even early November. The Note 3 will have more than enough phone real estate to add the amount of LTE antennas required for tri band support and would fit the late 2013 time frame. Who knows maybe the LG Optimus G 2 may have tri band LTE support as well.

[jefbal99]

There are threads here about it though I've had issues finding them. The outlook isn't exciting and quite honestly pretty grim.

 

Sprint has said they won't have any TD-LTE devices until late 2013 and no real flagships until 2014. Given that SMR support is predicated on TD-LTE support per their comments about skipping SMR dual band devices for tri-band LTE devices, I'm more than a little disappointed in their device strategy.

 

Don't you mean BRS support is predicated on TD-LTE? SMR is the 800Mhz spectrum and has nothing to do with Clear. I also believe that SMR LTE with be FDD like the PCS G Block LTE

[ericdabbs]

Don't you mean BRS support is predicated on TD-LTE? SMR is the 800Mhz spectrum and has nothing to do with Clear. I also believe that SMR LTE with be FDD like the PCS G Block LTE

 

I am not sure what he meant by the SMR support is predicated on TD-LTE statement. Also you are correct in that the SMR 800 MHz LTE will be FDD LTE since it uses paired spectrum (817-824 and 862-869 MHz)

[WiWavelength]

Don't you mean BRS support is predicated on TD-LTE? SMR is the 800Mhz spectrum and has nothing to do with Clear. I also believe that SMR LTE with be FDD like the PCS G Block LTE

 

No, read lynyrd's post more clearly. He says that Sprint has stated that it will not release any dual band LTE 800/1900 devices but will skip directly to tri band LTE 800/1900, TD-LTE 2600 devices. Thus, LTE 800 and TD-LTE 2600 are predicated on each other. No device, reportedly, will possess one capability but not the other.

 

AJ

[Fraydog]

I would be shocked if there was any Clearwire LTE being used in 2013. Any takers on this one?

[jefbal99]

No, read lynyrd's post more clearly. He says that Sprint has stated that it will not release any dual band LTE 800/1900 devices but will skip directly to tri band LTE 800/1900, TD-LTE 2600 devices. Thus, LTE 800 and TD-LTE 2600 are predicated on each other. No device, reportedly, will possess one capability but not the other.

 

AJ

 

I see that but he still has a typo in there that is confusing. Sprint is skipping PCS/SMR LTE devices for PCS/SMR/BRS LTE devices. While a device with SMR LTE won't be release until BRS LTE/TD-LTE is ready, this is a policy decision, not a technical one. SMR LTE being FDD-LTE has no bearing on BRS LTE being TD-LTE.

 

At least that was how I read his comment.

[jefbal99]

I would be shocked if there was any Clearwire LTE being used in 2013. Any takers on this one?

 

It wouldn't shock me if Sprint had a USB dongle that was triband this year or a Wholesale partner was using Clear LTE for something non-Phone this year.

[supert0nes]

s3 will hold me over. This little hunk of plastic is a tank. Too bad the battery life is so bad.

[Guest 503ducati]

Is Sprint still on track to begin using Clearwire LTE sometime in 2013 according to their agreement in Dec 2011? OR do they have wait until the Sprint/Softbank/Clearwire merger transaction is finalized first?

 

There hasn't been much talk about Clearwire LTE progress other than as of Q4 2012 they have around 1,000 sites upgraded to TD-LTE and still on track to have 2,000 sites upgraded to TD-LTE by June 2013. There is still no word as to which markets these 2,000 sites will entail. Hopefully Clearwire can provide more color at their 2013 Q1 CC.

 

Sprint/Clearwire agreement in Dec 2011

http://corporate.cle...eleaseID=629282

Feb 16 2013

 

http://seekingalpha....d-lte-in-action

 

 

Clearwire's 4G LTE

According to Seeking Alpha's earnings call transcript, Clearwire is making significant progress on LTE Advance-ready network. The company began to ramp up building activities in Q4, 2012 and exceed the target of 800 fully commissioned sites with more than 1,000 LTE X sites awaiting connection to Sprint's core network at year-end. The company remains on track to meet the 4G MVNO agreement build milestones of 2,000 LTE sites on air by June 2013, increasing to 5,000 LTE sites on air by December, 2013. Clearwire could receive a series of prepayments amounting $350 million from Sprint (with 48.1% stake in Clearwire) over a two-year period if Clearwire meets certain LTE deployment target by June, 2013, according to Zacks' report.

 

 

 

Maybe Chicago market is the first?

 

 

 

 

[ericdabbs]

Feb 16 2013

 

http://seekingalpha....d-lte-in-action

 

 

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Maybe Chicago market is the first?

 

 

 

 

 

Where did you get that powerpoint slide presentation?

[Guest 503ducati]

Where did you get that powerpoint slide presentation?

One of Clearwire's quarterly transcripts from last year but can't recall which quarter off hand.

[dedub]

This topic is a great question.

 

I suspect the answer is yes, but I also suspect it will probably be non-phone devices for 2013... ie dongles/modems/tablets.

 

I can agree the note 3 being a likely candidate for being the lead and/or flagship, if any phones actually make it in before 2014.

[ericdabbs]

Just as I suspected, the Sprint GS4 went through FCC today and it only has 1900 MHz LTE support.

[ChadBroChillz]

This topic is a great question.

 

I suspect the answer is yes, but I also suspect it will probably be non-phone devices for 2013... ie dongles/modems/tablets.

 

I can agree the note 3 being a likely candidate for being the lead and/or flagship, if any phones actually make it in before 2014.

 

I could see the Note 3, but if I had to put money on it, it would be the next iPhone. It already has support for CDMA 800 and LTE on 850, so I could see the next one adding 800Mhz LTE support without too much trouble. Softbank has TD-lte on 2.5Ghz being deployed, China Mobile has been in talking with apple for quite some time to offer the iPhone; and I believe it was mentioned that they could possible share the antennas that broadcast wifi on 2.4ghz with 2.5/2.6ghz. Lets not forget that Qualcomm announced their global chip, which can support 40 LTE bands. I am pretty sure Tim Cook has wet dreams about being able to call the iPhone the worlds first LTE world phone.

 

 

Of course their decision to not update the current att iPhones to fully support T-mobile makes me hesitant.

[ericdabbs]

 

I could see the Note 3, but if I had to put money on it, it would be the next iPhone. It already has support for CDMA 800 and LTE on 850, so I could see the next one adding 800Mhz LTE support without too much trouble. Softbank has TD-lte on 2.5Ghz being deployed, China Mobile has been in talking with apple for quite some time to offer the iPhone; and I believe it was mentioned that they could possible share the antennas that broadcast wifi on 2.4ghz with 2.5/2.6ghz. Lets not forget that Qualcomm announced their global chip, which can support 40 LTE bands. I am pretty sure Tim Cook has wet dreams about being able to call the iPhone the worlds first LTE world phone.

 

 

Of course their decision to not update the current att iPhones to fully support T-mobile makes me hesitant.

 

I hope you are right in that the next iPhone depending on when it will be released contains 800 and 2500 MHz LTE support. It doesn't seem like Sprint is leaning towards releasing dual band LTE phones at this point and opting to jump straight to tri band LTE phones. Since the iPhone has now been for the last 2 years released in the late sept/early october time frame, it makes sense that it could be the first tri band LTE phone and if it does become the first tri band LTE phone, I will be so happy since that would mean future phones like the Note 3 and LG Optimus G 2 should have tri band LTE support as well.

 

With other carriers like AT&T, MetroPCS and Tmobile releasing LTE phones with multi-band support and in some cases as much as 4 LTE bands, there should be no excuse for Sprint not to start doing the same beginning 2H 2013.

 

In terms of why Apple didn't decide to update the current ATT iPhones to fully support Tmobile, I feel its very obvious. ATT is fully aware that people take their ATT iPhones to Tmobile and use it on their network and ATT knows Tmobile will be deploying their LTE on the AWS band. If ATT provided a firmware update for the ATT iPhone to support AWS LTE, then ATT customers thinking about leaving for Tmobile can easily take their iPhones to Tmobile and pay $70/mo and get LTE service which makes it really attractive. I think it is in ATT's best interest to intentionally leave out AWS LTE support unless ATT plans to fully support it as their next LTE band which I don't think is the case.

[dedub]

my guess is that battery life will trump tri-mode iphone any time soon.

 

That or apple will do a dual mode 1900/2600 outside of sprints influence.

[iansltx]

I hope you are right in that the next iPhone depending on when it will be released contains 800 and 2500 MHz LTE support. It doesn't seem like Sprint is leaning towards releasing dual band LTE phones at this point and opting to jump straight to tri band LTE phones. Since the iPhone has now been for the last 2 years released in the late sept/early october time frame, it makes sense that it could be the first tri band LTE phone and if it does become the first tri band LTE phone, I will be so happy since that would mean future phones like the Note 3 and LG Optimus G 2 should have tri band LTE support as well.

 

With other carriers like AT&T, MetroPCS and Tmobile releasing LTE phones with multi-band support and in some cases as much as 4 LTE bands, there should be no excuse for Sprint not to start doing the same beginning 2H 2013.

 

In terms of why Apple didn't decide to update the current ATT iPhones to fully support Tmobile, I feel its very obvious. ATT is fully aware that people take their ATT iPhones to Tmobile and use it on their network and ATT knows Tmobile will be deploying their LTE on the AWS band. If ATT provided a firmware update for the ATT iPhone to support AWS LTE, then ATT customers thinking about leaving for Tmobile can easily take their iPhones to Tmobile and pay $70/mo and get LTE service which makes it really attractive. I think it is in ATT's best interest to intentionally leave out AWS LTE support unless ATT plans to fully support it as their next LTE band which I don't think is the case.

 

AWS LTE is available on iPhones moved from AT&T to T-Mobile. It's AWS (DC-)HSPA+ that isn't available on A1428 iPhones bought prior to 4/12.

[MagnusOchncap]

Sprint should still be on track.

 

I imagine the next phone release on Sprint, after the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4, will have tri-band support. Both phones have been in development for a while, and 800Mhz LTE is still pretty rare.

 

There are many 2500/2600Mhz LTE networks world wide, but only a few 800Mhz LTE networks in Europe (with more to go live over the next few years).

 

I'm sure 800Mhz support is built in to most baseband modem firmwares going out the door right now. So we're probably looking at the next big announcement for tri-band support.

[JimBob]

Which/where are the 5,000 sites promised by Clearwire to be LTE-live by Dec 2013?

[Fraydog]

Which/where are the 5,000 sites promised by Clearwire to be LTE-live by Dec 2013?

 

I've seen slides that show a bunch of movement in Chicago.

[jefbal99]

I've seen slides that show a bunch of movement in Chicago.

 

With the Spectrum constraints that Sprint has in Chicago (pre USCC deal) I could see Sprint really pushing Triband devices in that market early on. Chicago was the first big push for 800Mhz 1xA, moving more early adopters and upgrades to SMR/BRS LTE will off load traffic from the PCS EVDO and LTE carriers.

[ericdabbs]

With the Spectrum constraints that Sprint has in Chicago (pre USCC deal) I could see Sprint really pushing Triband devices in that market early on. Chicago was the first big push for 800Mhz 1xA, moving more early adopters and upgrades to SMR/BRS LTE will off load traffic from the PCS EVDO and LTE carriers.

 

It makes sense in theory that Sprint should begin pushing Tri-band LTE support devices later on this year. We'll have to see with Sprint devices later on this year if they actually include tri-band LTE support. Depending on when the iPhone 5S is released, it could be the first LTE device with tri-band LTE support or it could be the Galaxy Note 3.