what percent of phones are PCS LTE already?

[DaQue]

Anyone want to offer a educated guess what percent of Sprint phones with a current sub can use LTE when its available locally? I'm wondering how much traffic it will off load from the EVDO network. LTE should even help data speeds on it if enough phones move off it to LTE.

 

[WiWavelength]

That is a great question, one that I have wondered myself.  But I have yet to see any Sprint LTE device penetration stats.  My guess is that, even only a year into LTE device availability, the percentage is surprisingly high.

 

AJ

[Rukin1]

That is a great question, one that I have wondered myself.  But I have yet to see any Sprint LTE device penetration stats.  My guess is that, even only a year into LTE device availability, the percentage is surprisingly high.

 

AJ

Didn't they announce them/aka sell them before LTE was even anywhere? but maybe one or two places?

[WiWavelength]

Didn't they announce them/aka sell them before LTE was even anywhere? but maybe one or two places?

 

Uh, everywhere.  The Samsung Galaxy Nexus, LG Viper, HTC EVO LTE, and Samsung Galaxy S3 were all available before Sprint "loosed" LTE on the public in any markets.  Sprint took quite a bit of heat from the tech press for that move.

 

AJ

[iansltx]

Similarly, SMR 1x has been on Sprint phones for a few years now, even though the network as of this moment isn't widely available outside Indy and Chicago. Building for the future is exactly what VZW hasn't done, first with LTE and then with LTE in AWS...and T-Mobile's LTE phone selection is in a similar predicament. Props to Sprint for taking the subsidy hit to get the techs out there.

 

sent via my SIII on Tapatalk 4 beta

 

 

[digiblur]

Now the real question is...  how many of these folks with LTE handsets have their phones in CDMA only mode due to the various stores and CSRs telling them to do so?  Due to their lack of knowledge it will probably stay like that for the life of the handset.

[chamb]

Now the real question is...  how many of these folks with LTE handsets have their phones in CDMA only mode due to the various stores and CSRs telling them to do so?  Due to their lack of knowledge it will probably stay like that for the life of the handset.

Bingo Digiblur.   How many people do not even know how to turn their phone off??  I sat beside one leaving San Antonio two weeks ago on a Southwest flight.  The flight attendant told him how to do it and he still could not do it.   Eventually I offered to do it for him so I could get the plane in the air. He was about 25 years old and as dumb as a box of rocks.  They are everywhere.

[SpenceSouth]

Bingo Digiblur.   How many people do not even know how to turn their phone off??  I sat beside one leaving San Antonio two weeks ago on a Southwest flight.  The flight attendant told him how to do it and he still could not do it.   Eventually I offered to do it for him so I could get the plane in the air. He was about 25 years old and as dumb as a box of rocks.  They are everywhere.

Oh the frustration of being a techie person in a world where people love technology, but don't have a damn clue how to use it.  I still quiver ever time my mom asks how to move pictures from one folder to another...

[koiulpoi]

Now the real question is...  how many of these folks with LTE handsets have their phones in CDMA only mode due to the various stores and CSRs telling them to do so?  Due to their lack of knowledge it will probably stay like that for the life of the handset.

I honestly have no idea where this attitude came from. Several "launch" documents across various devices, including the EVO LTE and the Galaxy S3, as well as stuff like "LTE Network General" all state that devices should be left in "LTE/CDMA Auto", as that way the device can automatically use the best network available, and it doesn't drain battery life. Everyone who even vaguely works for Sprint (even, like, Best Buy and Radio Shack employees) should have this knowledge.

[digiblur]

 

 

Now the real question is... how many of these folks with LTE handsets have their phones in CDMA only mode due to the various stores and CSRs telling them to do so? Due to their lack of knowledge it will probably stay like that for the life of the handset.

 

 

I honestly have no idea where this attitude came from. Several "launch" documents across various devices, including the EVO LTE and the Galaxy S3, as well as stuff like "LTE Network General" all state that devices should be left in "LTE/CDMA Auto", as that way the device can automatically use the best network available, and it doesn't drain battery life. Everyone who even vaguely works for Sprint (even, like, Best Buy and Radio Shack employees) should have this knowledge.

Except the fix all to everything is to put the phone in Cdma only mode. I get told this all the time anytime I call tech support. The same has been told to me at several Sprint stores as it makes the "data better" and saves battery. If I get told this all the time I can only imagine the percentage of phones out there like this.

[bill875]

When A-L was doing NV updates to a nearby tower, my EVO LTE could not use EVDO data unless I was in CDMA Only mode.  I have since switched it back to auto, but there are valid reasons during the NV rollout to make the switch to CDMA Only.

[eljayyy91]

You know wats funny I have 3 sprint phones in the house all 3 came out of the box in cdma/lte mode...

[z250kid]

Now the real question is...  how many of these folks with LTE handsets have their phones in CDMA only mode due to the various stores and CSRs telling them to do so?  Due to their lack of knowledge it will probably stay like that for the life of the handset.

When I had a tower issue they told me to do this.  This is no lte in ct! I was like ummmm yea there is I didn't change it to that mode.

[koiulpoi]

Except the fix all to everything is to put the phone in Cdma only mode. I get told this all the time anytime I call tech support. The same has been told to me at several Sprint stores as it makes the "data better" and saves battery. If I get told this all the time I can only imagine the percentage of phones out there like this.

Yeah, seriously confused. There was actually a training that came out recently that said things, in big bold letters, like "LEAVE LTE PHONES ON LTE/CDMA" and "REPROVISIONING CANNOT FIX COVERAGE ISSUES". Guess nobody else read that...

[newboyx]

I have had several people come in to my store with LTE disabled on their phones. Makes me look magical when I suddenly make their phone connect to LTE. Most times they say that the guy at the Sprint store told them to turn it off, because LTE was not available in our market. Pretty sad because LTE has been in and around Indy for quite a while. I assume that it has been disabled since they bought the phone.

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

 

[digiblur]

I have had several people come in to my store with LTE disabled on their phones. Makes me look magical when I suddenly make their phone connect to LTE. Most times they say that the guy at the Sprint store told them to turn it off, because LTE was not available in our market. Pretty sad because LTE has been in and around Indy for quite a while. I assume that it has been disabled since they bought the phone.

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

 

That's been my experience right there as well.

 

I called in two down LTE sites in my area the other day, market launched by the way, the CSR said the market wasn't fully launched and the map was what it was going to be like later this year. She then walked me through shutting off LTE since the "towers were being updated" and to try LTE in the next few months.

[JeffDTD]

 

I have had several people come in to my store with LTE disabled on their phones. Makes me look magical when I suddenly make their phone connect to LTE. Most times they say that the guy at the Sprint store told them to turn it off, because LTE was not available in our market. Pretty sad because LTE has been in and around Indy for quite a while. I assume that it has been disabled since they bought the phone.

 

 

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

 

 

That's been my experience right there as well.

 

 

 

I called in two down LTE sites in my area the other day, market launched by the way, the CSR said the market wasn't fully launched and the map was what it was going to be like later this year. She then walked me through shutting off LTE since the "towers were being updated" and to try LTE in the next few months.

Thats unacceptable. No different than the old "update your prl to fix your coverage" channel jumping placebo. Sprint needs to push updates that remove the cdma only mode from all the handsets

 

Sent from my Note II. Its so big.

 

[Thomas L.]

Didn't the S3, for example, originally ship in CDMA only mode? Sprint should make a point of making LTE active by default in any firmware updates for LTE devices.

[Moropo]

I can confirm that when you go to a Sprint store they blame *any* issue on the phone being on LTE/CDMA mode. Bunch of retards.

 

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

 

[MrZorbatron]

Didn't the S3, for example, originally ship in CDMA only mode? Sprint should make a point of making LTE active by default in any firmware updates for LTE devices.

Mine was on auto CDMA/LTE.  CDMA Only mode should only be used for troubleshooting, which is by definition a temporary condition.

[newboyx]

I think the Viper shipped set to cdma only, an update set LTE to default.

 

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

 

[halcyoncmdr]

Now the real question is...  how many of these folks with LTE handsets have their phones in CDMA only mode due to the various stores and CSRs telling them to do so?  Due to their lack of knowledge it will probably stay like that for the life of the handset.

 

This setting can be changed remotely by Sprint with a provisioning refresh sent to the phone. I believe the EVO LTE always reverts back to CDMA/LTE when you update the data profile (it did at launch at least).

[koiulpoi]

I can confirm that when you go to a Sprint store they blame *any* issue on the phone being on LTE/CDMA mode. Bunch of retards.

 

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

Careful with tha generalizin' there, ya git. Some of us actually work'n dem stores you're disparagin'.

 

Seriously though, you must understand why such "placebo" things exist. You will get customers who think they know best, but are clueless, and really nothing's wrong. You will get customers for whom there is actually no fixing their issue, and your average rep doesn't want to be the one to deliver the bad news, so they change your phone to CDMA only and send them on their way, telling them it'll work better (because if they expect it will...). And you will get customers who, after running in to a problem, begin to make mountains of out molehills, and need some kind of placation to fix their non-issues.

 

These sorts of things are especially true in a retail environment, especially at Preferred Retailers (basically franchise stores, not corporate-owned). Employees there are strictly limited at their ability to perform certain actions. It's only in the last couple months that there was a tool launched that let us report network issues without calling in and asking Tier 1 Tech Support to do it for us (with all the headaches you can imagine). It was only in the last couple months that we got access to things like site-specific network tickets. Yes, that's right, until very recently, no Preferred Retailer employee could see what was wrong with any one site, and I'd put money on most employees not knowing that you can do it now, as it had been so long without.

 

So, in that situation, you want to make the customer happy, right? You have a choice - you can tell them there's nothing you can do and have them leave angry because their time was wasted and they feel helpless, or you can run a few basic updates and tell them to "try it out and get back to us".

 

Me personally, I always made sure to file network tickets (when I can) for customers with legitimate issues, but I've honestly never met another rep who does. Most are content with running PRL and Profile updates and being done with it, getting the customer out the door and to the next half-dozen waiting in line. I'll never tell you that it's right, but I definitely understand why it happens.

[halcyoncmdr]

Careful with tha generalizin' there, ya git. Some of us actually work'n dem stores you're disparagin'.

 

Seriously though, you must understand why such "placebo" things exist. You will get customers who think they know best, but are clueless, and really nothing's wrong. You will get customers for whom there is actually no fixing their issue, and your average rep doesn't want to be the one to deliver the bad news, so they change your phone to CDMA only and send them on their way, telling them it'll work better (because if they expect it will...). And you will get customers who, after running in to a problem, begin to make mountains of out molehills, and need some kind of placation to fix their non-issues.

 

These sorts of things are especially true in a retail environment, especially at Preferred Retailers (basically franchise stores, not corporate-owned). Employees there are strictly limited at their ability to perform certain actions. It's only in the last couple months that there was a tool launched that let us report network issues without calling in and asking Tier 1 Tech Support to do it for us (with all the headaches you can imagine). It was only in the last couple months that we got access to things like site-specific network tickets. Yes, that's right, until very recently, no Preferred Retailer employee could see what was wrong with any one site, and I'd put money on most employees not knowing that you can do it now, as it had been so long without.

 

So, in that situation, you want to make the customer happy, right? You have a choice - you can tell them there's nothing you can do and have them leave angry because their time was wasted and they feel helpless, or you can run a few basic updates and tell them to "try it out and get back to us".

 

Me personally, I always made sure to file network tickets (when I can) for customers with legitimate issues, but I've honestly never met another rep who does. Most are content with running PRL and Profile updates and being done with it, getting the customer out the door and to the next half-dozen waiting in line. I'll never tell you that it's right, but I definitely understand why it happens.

 

This is true of corporate stores as well. If you aren't purchasing anything, the sales rep you are talking to more than likely wants nothing to do with you. There are always exceptions, but in a commissioned sales job with high quotas, you are going to attract the less savory types more often than not. Or at least those less savory types will be the ones that stick around because they can game the system enough, whereas the rest get runover by the train as it goes on.

 

Even the techs are being pushed into sales now as well (with very little incentive honestly), it's the nature of a retail hierarchy that largely views techs as expendable and a drain (despite monthly TEP costs covering ALL retail repair overhead and still bringing a profit).