WSJ: Sprint looking at T-Mobile purchase

[utiz4321]

Don't know if anyone has read this article or if it has been posted but.....

 

6 Reasons Sprint Shouldn't Buy T-Mobile. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2428370,00.asp

In broad strokes and especially the stuff about competitiveness I think this article is spot on.

[MacPCS]

Sascha Segan uses T-Mobile for his personal service. Typical GSM and magenta love from the tech press?

 

AJ

doesn't mean his points are without merit. Some might be overblown but the idea of sprint and t mobile merging will have loads of questions that need to be answered to be able to say yeah it's a great idea. Or that it's a terrible idea for that matter.

[bigsnake49]

I don't call covering the top 100 cities with spark in the next 3 years a fast rollout. Spark will be nowhere near substantially complete by the end of 2014 unless sprint is using the under promise over deliver approach

Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk

 

They don't need 60MHz of 2.5GHz spectrum right away. They will need it in the urban downtowns environments, heavy apartment concetrations, IBEZ areas, etc. They can pick and choose where they do it first. They can slowly fiull in the rest. BTW, Verizon still is filing out their 700Mhz LTE deployment.

[Terrell352]

Sprint also said only 180 million are to be covered with 800 lte by the end of 2014. Leaves alot to be desired. Sprint needs to break deployment records next year if it wants customers to come back.

They don't need 60MHz of 2.5GHz spectrum right away. They will need it in the urban downtowns environments, heavy apartment concetrations, IBEZ areas, etc. They can pick and choose where they do it first. They can slowly fiull in the rest. BTW, Verizon still is filing out their 700Mhz LTE deployment.

Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk

 

 

[mozamcrew]

Someone can be against the ATT buyout of Tmo and for the Sprint buyout of Tmo. The difference is night and day. Also, AJ has not said he is for the buyout at all.

 

Personally, I think Sprint is on the right path to compete already on their own. They will be in a good position in 12 months and will be able to grow organically from there pretty well. They don't need to take Tmo to complete their plans. However, the problem for them is kind of like Alltel. You can't let someone else scoop them up either. We know that ATT nor Verizon can buy Tmo...now. But the Obama Admin ends in

 

Also, I think SoftBank really would love to have a GSM/WCDMA ecosystem.

 

Robert via Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

Long term it's going to be an all LTE ecosystem anyhow. Why waste money deploying GSM/WCDMA now on prime spectrum (PCS/AWS/700Mhz) for LTE. In the long term, CDMA can survive as legacy in the 800 Mhz bands simply because it makes more efficient use of the leftover scraps of spectrum you have when you deploy LTE in band 26. Sprint will have room for a 5x5 and a single 1x800 carrier in their spectrum (in most areas). If you have Cell A or B block, you have room for 10x10 LTE and 1x or a 5x5 LTE and 4 1x carriers.  Long term, the 1x800 carrier will be the last thing Sprint turns off, simply because it doesn't cost them anything to leave it. MAYBE you get a 1.4 Mhz LTE carrier, but it gains you very little speed/capacity, whereas your PCS holdings are all in 5Mhz increments, so they will all be converted to LTE eventually.

[bigsnake49]

Sprint also said only 180 million are to be covered with 800 lte by the end of 2014. Leaves alot to be desired. Sprint needs to break deployment records next year if it wants customers to come back.

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I just don't want you to think that everybody else is telling the truth and Sprint is so far behind. There are many places where T-mobile's LTE coverage is very spotty, although according to them it is covered.

[richy]

I just don't want you to think that everybody else is telling the truth and Sprint is so far behind. There are many places where T-mobile's LTE coverage is very spotty, although according to them it is covered.

Maui has a couple of towers converted and thats it. They cover a small part of west Maui, everything else is Faux G. Sprint has no LTE on Maui yet but does have wimax and one day (when permits are done) they should have great LTE coverage (probably on East Maui won't get any ).  I wouldn't exactly say we 'had' LTE from tmo although they seem to think we do. 

 

The difference is Sprint has permits in process, Tmo only has a few and they seem to be for existing LTE sites? Tmo sadly have more permits for work on their stores than they do on their sites here

[mozamcrew]

Yes, so does Verizon, but I don't think it will last that long. Once VoLTE has been perfected, then the next phone you buy will only be a VoLTE one with no Circuit Switched Fallback and you won't notice the difference. It will simplify things tremendously for both the carriers and the handset makers. No need for SV-DO or SV-LTE.

CSFB is what eliminated the need for SV-DO/SV-LTE and thus simplified things for the carriers and handset makers. VoLTE (really just VoIP) isn't nearly as important as CSFB in that regard. You might get some very marginal cost reductions by eliminating the CDMA/WCDMA from the modem circuitry, but not as big as from going from multiple radios to a single radio, which is what CSFB does. I guess it would be nice to be able to fall back to 1x800 in very marginal coverage areas to make a call or send a text. I don't seem Sprint eliminating 1xA for another decade, given their investment and its superior coverage, which they need.

[mozamcrew]

The only way this merger will fly is if the resulting entity divests substantial amounts of spectrum. I'm just guessing it will be EBS spectrum since it is leased and not owned. 

 

If I'm Sprint, I'd much rather divest the the AWS spectrum (after Sprint gets the old TMUS network shutdown after the merger). 

• I'm sure ATT and VZW would be eager purchasers of more AWS in three years time. (As they have existing AWS LTE networks)
• Sprint can easily refarm TMUS PCS spectrum for use on their own network. Adding AWS to their network will require new RRUs and antennas. (And since the NV Sprint network is newer and covers more territory, I assume Sprint is planning to keep their gear and sell/scrap the TMUS stuff)
• They are already rolling out TD-LTE in BRS/EBS spectrum, I don't think Sprint wants to give that up since they have already invested so much in it.

[IamMrFamous07]

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If I'm Sprint, I'd much rather divest the the AWS spectrum (after Sprint gets the old TMUS network shutdown after the merger).

• I'm sure ATT and VZW would be eager purchasers of more AWS in three years time. (As they have existing AWS LTE networks)
• Sprint can easily refarm TMUS PCS spectrum for use on their own network. Adding AWS to their network will require new RRUs and antennas. (And since the NV Sprint network is newer and covers more territory, I assume Sprint is planning to keep their gear and sell/scrap the TMUS stuff)
• They are already rolling out TD-LTE in BRS/EBS spectrum, I don't think Sprint wants to give that up since they have already invested so much in it.

I agree

[bigsnake49]

 

If I'm Sprint, I'd much rather divest the the AWS spectrum (after Sprint gets the old TMUS network shutdown after the merger). 

• I'm sure ATT and VZW would be eager purchasers of more AWS in three years time. (As they have existing AWS LTE networks)
• Sprint can easily refarm TMUS PCS spectrum for use on their own network. Adding AWS to their network will require new RRUs and antennas. (And since the NV Sprint network is newer and covers more territory, I assume Sprint is planning to keep their gear and sell/scrap the TMUS stuff)
• They are already rolling out TD-LTE in BRS/EBS spectrum, I don't think Sprint wants to give that up since they have already invested so much in it.

 

 

You make a lot of sense but I don't see them divesting AWS before EBS.

[IamMrFamous07]

You make a lot of sense but I don't see them divesting AWS before EBS.

Why won't they though? They currently don't have aws

[briank86]

Another interesting scenario is playing out with Verizon offering some 700 Mhz spectrum to tmo. Considering the open access agreement that was built into the auction of that spectrum, tethering apps to bypass the paid option cannot be blocked. When Verizon got sued for doing so they changed their plans to the structure they are today, in attempt to eliminate unlimited users. Potentially Tmo and sprint would face the same situation. Personally I think it is a poison pill for tmo that will lead to an overburdened network such as Verizon faced requiring a 20X20 to get normal LTE speeds in some major markets.

[bigsnake49]

Why won't they though? They currently don't have aws

Because AWS is more valuable than EBS, EBS is leased vs owned, there is a network already developed on AWS that they can easily incorporate into their own.

[bigsnake49]

Another interesting scenario is playing out with Verizon offering some 700 Mhz spectrum to tmo. Considering the open access agreement that was built into the auction of that spectrum, tethering apps to bypass the paid option cannot be blocked. When Verizon got sued for doing so they changed their plans to the structure they are today, in attempt to eliminate unlimited users. Potentially Tmo and sprint would face the same situation. Personally I think it is a poison pill for tmo that will lead to an overburdened network such as Verizon faced requiring a 20X20 to get normal LTE speeds in some major markets.

 

No, the restriction was on Verizon's upper C band, not their Lower A band spectrum.

[mozamcrew]

You make a lot of sense but I don't see them divesting AWS before EBS.

I get that the EBS is leased and thus has ongoing costs, but it uses the same antennas and RRUs that they are using for their BRS spectrum. So they are better off keeping it as long as the lease holders don't get too greedy. It's also very valuable in urban areas since it is perfect for small cells to add capacity. Also, who else is going to want the EBS spectrum?? Since they will be forced to divest spectrum, why not agree to sell the spectrum that will earn you some $$$.

[mozamcrew]

Because AWS is more valuable than EBS, EBS is leased vs owned, there is a network already developed on AWS that they can easily incorporate into their own.

I'm assuming they will be shutting down the TMUS network (maybe converting a small number of TMUS sites where TMUS has coverage and Sprint doesn't) and moving the customers to Sprint. Since Sprint doesn't use AWS, that's what I see them divesting for the reasons I listed above. They probably keep the 700Mhz (that TMUS is buying from VZW) and the PCS. If they do that, they'd have 700,800,1900, and 2.5/2.6.

[IamMrFamous07]

Wait wasnt metro pcs a cdma company? And tmobile is gsm? How is tmobile managing that? Pardon my ignorance but I didn't follow that merger closely

[lordsutch]

Wait wasnt metro pcs a cdma company? And tmobile is gsm? How is tmobile managing that? Pardon my ignorance but I didn't follow that merger closely

The apparent plan is to follow the model that Bell and Telus have used in Canada: phasing out CDMA 1x/EVDO in favor of WCDMA and refarming Metro's PCS spectrum to LTE gradually as customers upgrade or churn. T-Mobile has also expanded the MetroPCS branding into WCDMA-only markets.

 

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[Paynefanbro]

 

If I'm Sprint, I'd much rather divest the the AWS spectrum (after Sprint gets the old TMUS network shutdown after the merger). 

• I'm sure ATT and VZW would be eager purchasers of more AWS in three years time. (As they have existing AWS LTE networks)
• Sprint can easily refarm TMUS PCS spectrum for use on their own network. Adding AWS to their network will require new RRUs and antennas. (And since the NV Sprint network is newer and covers more territory, I assume Sprint is planning to keep their gear and sell/scrap the TMUS stuff)
• They are already rolling out TD-LTE in BRS/EBS spectrum, I don't think Sprint wants to give that up since they have already invested so much in it.

 

 

No way Sprint is dropping that AWS if they merge. It's too valuable and that would mean all of T-Mobile's LTE work was for nothing. Sprint would likely begin including Band 4 LTE radios in devices so Sprint devices could use T-Mobile LTE. To put W-CDMA on a Network Vision tower is not much of a hassle and would mean Sprint could easily put HSPA+ on it's existing footprint with the necessary RRU's. No?

 

Sprint saw something like this coming with Network Vision.

[IamMrFamous07]

No way Sprint is dropping that AWS if they merge. It's too valuable and that would mean all of T-Mobile's LTE work was for nothing. Sprint would likely begin including Band 4 LTE radios in devices so Sprint devices could use T-Mobile LTE. To put W-CDMA on a Network Vision tower is not much of a hassle and would mean Sprint could easily put HSPA+ on it's existing footprint with the necessary RRU's. No?

 

Sprint saw something like this coming with Network Vision.

Interesting. I want sprint to make this official bid just so we can see their plan of execution

[Destroyallcubes]

Well if said merger happened and they were to sell AWS, it would probably sell at a decent price given the other 2 would want/need it. I bet it'd be split up or ATT would buy it to even out the field speed wise with verizon.

[milan03]

I hope you realize that there are 40+ million subscribers currently connected to T-Mobile's AWS, whether its their WCDMA or LTE. 

 

AWS isn't going anywhere unless T-Mobile uses greenfield licenses for trading purposes. 

 

I'd say adding WCDMA on PCS to Sprint's existing footprint, followed by B41 and 800Mhz on T-Mobile sites is more realistic. 

[Paynefanbro]

I hope you realize that there are 40+ million subscribers currently connected to T-Mobile's AWS, whether its their WCDMA or LTE. 

 

AWS isn't going anywhere unless T-Mobile uses greenfield licenses for trading purposes. 

 

I'd say adding WCDMA on PCS to Sprint's existing footprint, followed by B41 and 800Mhz on T-Mobile sites is more realistic. 

 

Definitely agree. SprinT-Mobile would have capacity like no other.

[bigsnake49]

I hope you realize that there are 40+ million subscribers currently connected to T-Mobile's AWS, whether its their WCDMA or LTE. 

 

AWS isn't going anywhere unless T-Mobile uses greenfield licenses for trading purposes. 

 

I'd say adding WCDMA on PCS to Sprint's existing footprint, followed by B41 and 800Mhz on T-Mobile sites is more realistic. 

That would be more reasonable.