US Cellular bye buy?

[Calvin200]

Rumor--Friends at US Cellular say they are going to be bought and they suspect it's Sprint doing the buying.   Speculation is it's going to be by the end of the year. 

[IamMrFamous07]

Rumor--Friends at US Cellular say they are going to be bought and they suspect it's Sprint doing the buying. Speculation is it's going to be by the end of the year.

Possibly they did close some locations in my area

[Paynefanbro]

If it means expanded coverage then I say go ahead!

[Paynefanbro]

The only thing is U.S. Cellular's LTE tends to have high pings like 140ms at times. Not as bad as MetroPCS but still pretty bad. Can Sprint take U.S. Cellular cell sites and backhaul and re-purpose them for PCS LTE? In Pitt County, NC Sprint has a native footprint but U.S. Cellular has a stronger footprint and LTE across nearly the entire rural area.

[lynyrd65]

The only thing is U.S. Cellular's LTE tends to have high pings like 140ms at times. Not as bad as MetroPCS but still pretty bad. Can Sprint take U.S. Cellular cell sites and backhaul and re-purpose them for PCS LTE? In Pitt County, NC Sprint has a native footprint but U.S. Cellular has a stronger footprint and LTE across nearly the entire rural area.

Why do that when they can use the existing 700 coverage?

 

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2

 

 

[Paynefanbro]

Why do that when they can use the existing 700 coverage?

 

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Because Sprint doesn't have any 700Mhz compatible devices. SMR is good enough until the 600Mhz auction. They'd do better just selling that off.

[lynyrd65]

Because Sprint doesn't have any 700Mhz compatible devices. SMR is good enough until the 600Mhz auction. They'd do better just selling that off.

They have already committed to adding band 12 (700 mHz A-C) to future devices.

 

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2

 

 

[swintec]

i cant speak for other markets but this would be amazing, at least coverage wise up here in northern new england where US Cellular has a pretty decent network for rural areas and sprint...not so much.

 

is it a fairly straight forward migration of the US cellular network over to Sprint if this were to happen?

[ericdabbs]

Well since Leap is being bought up by AT&T, Sprint mind as well grab up US Cellular and improve the spectrum portfolios in the Mid-west and east.  I would much rather have had Sprint made a bid for Leap though.

[Nickel]

Well since Leap is being bought up by AT&T, Sprint mind as well grab up US Cellular and improve the spectrum portfolios in the Mid-west and east.  I would much rather have had Sprint made a bid for Leap though.

Why? US Cellular fits in perfectly with their spectrum while Leap's primary asset was AWS. Also, until I see something more definitive this is just a silly rumor.

[smalltimehack]

US cell has been rumored to be selling off parts of California to t-mobile iirc. As far as where I am it will never happen. In Wisconsin us cell is right on par with Verizon where as with the Chicago region there weren't doing so hot. So while it is possible that they might buy another portion of it there is no way the whole company itself will go down right now. In a few years maybe but not now.

[sbolen]

For what it's worth, I'll regale you with a tale of extreme banal minutiae from 2006: my then girlfriend/now wife and I were driving through Wyoming, about 40 miles or so away from Cheyenne, and ended up getting stuck in a snowstorm when a FedEx truck rolled off a hill.

 

I had USC at the time, my wife had Sprint. She had no service up in the mountains; I had 2 bars and could make/receive calls and send text messages.

 

Point being, I love USC's coverage, and would welcome a buyout.

 

(Also: I propose we change the thread title to "US Cellular bye buy," because puns are awesome.)

[WiWavelength]

I had USC at the time, my wife had Sprint. She had no service up in the mountains; I had 2 bars and could make/receive calls and send text messages.

 

I practically guarantee that was a phone RF or setting issue, not a USCC benefit.  USCC has no native coverage in Wyoming, and Sprint has very little.  But Sprint at the time had roaming agreements with both VZW and Alltel.

 

AJ

[sbolen]

I practically guarantee that was a phone RF or setting issue, not a USCC benefit.  USCC has no native coverage in Wyoming, and Sprint has very little.  But Sprint at the time had roaming agreements with both VZW and Alltel.

 

AJ

That makes sense. At the time, I was just a "I'm shopping the cheapest plans in my area" guy. Now, thanks the forum, I know better.

[Rukin1]

Possibly they did close some locations in my area

There was a store here. and in the malls. They're both gone lol. Idk if theres anything left of usc here

[WiWavelength]

I do not support any USCC buyout.  I would rather see USCC remain independent.  And USCC is such a regionalized operator that acquiring it would do relatively little to help Sprint nationally.  Too little, too late.  Alltel/WWC was the rural prize that would have helped Sprint and its perception nationally, but as we know, that ship sailed several years ago.

 

Now, that said, USCC is effectively shifting gears in its LTE rollout from Lower 700 MHz to Cellular 850 MHz.  That will allow USCC to offer LTE capable iPhone models.  Additionally, if the LG G2 is any indication, Sprint band 26 LTE 800 devices will cover the entire superset band, including Cellular 850 MHz.  So, they would be compatible with USCC's band 5 LTE 850 deployment.

 

AJ

[WiWavelength]

(Also: I propose we change the thread title to "US Cellular bye buy," because puns are awesome.)

 

 

AJ

[Dkoellerwx]

There was a store here. and in the malls. They're both gone lol. Idk if theres anything left of usc here

 

Your area was sold to Sprint some time ago, hence the stores closing. 

[briankwest]

I would welcome this... I live in Southeastern Oklahoma and it would beef up native coverage to be usable when you venture out of the sprint areas where 1xrtt is all you get on USCC right now.  

 

/b

[lilotimz]

I find this highly unlikely for various reasons

 

• $250 million in network investments for gear from Alcatel-Lucent & Nortel
• $500 million in internal billing system upgrades (which caused a shitstorm)
• Extremely healthy relationship with Sprint including preferred relationship & other goodies
• Carlson family owns 80+% of the company and the only way for a buyout is if the Carlson wants out or receives an offer that they cannot refuse. 

I find it more likely that USCC & Sprint goes into a partnership and opens up LTE / EVDO roaming over their Cellular 850 & PCS in exchange for roaming on sprint SMR 800 & PCS LTE.

 

Side note - Just a FYI, USCC hardly uses any fiber or microwave backhaul. The vast majority of their sites utilizes bonded T1 or T3 copper lines due to their rural nature and many of them are bogging down due to smart phone use. This is the same type of backhaul that Sprint rejected from Centurylink down in NM and had to reopen bids for new backhaul that met NV requirements. 

[Rukin1]

Your area was sold to Sprint some time ago, hence the stores closing. 

 Didn't even know. Thanks for the information

[WiWavelength]

 Didn't even know. Thanks for the information

 

We wrote the most detailed breakdown of the Sprint-USCC spectrum transaction last fall.  But maybe you were not here yet, lol.

 

http://s4gru.com/index.php?/blog/1/entry-334-updated-sprint-uscc-spectrum-deal-sprint-gets-20-mhz-broader-in-the-city-of-broad-shoulders/

 

AJ

[The Dave]

It would be nice. My parents live in western Iowa and US Cellular and Verizon are the only options. They live in a huge coverage hole that used to be blanketed by Nextel.

[Guest tuwsy]

I do not support any USCC buyout. I would rather see USCC remain independent. And USCC is such a regionalized operator that acquiring it would do relatively little to help Sprint nationally. Too little, too late. Alltel/WWC was the rural prize that would have helped Sprint and its perception nationally, but as we know, that ship sailed several years ago.

 

Now, that said, USCC is effectively shifting gears in its LTE rollout from Lower 700 MHz to Cellular 850 MHz. That will allow USCC to offer LTE capable iPhone models. Additionally, if the LG G2 is any indication, Sprint band 26 LTE 800 devices will cover the entire superset band, including Cellular 850 MHz. So, they would be compatible with USCC's band 5 LTE 850 deployment.

 

AJ

What's their 850 spectrum config gonna be?

[Guest tuwsy]

They have already committed to adding band 12 (700 mHz A-C) to future devices.

 

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Source please. Unless sprint is gonna buy out the rest of A block, this doesn't pass the smell test.