Sprint to Shut Down Wimax by End of 2015 (Was Wimax network shut-off date?)

[Destroyallcubes]

That's what many people think and probably what many companies honestly think but that doesn't actually make good business sense. I wish people would stop blaming users and stop calling it abuse cause it's not. With a finite resource such as a limited wireless bandwidth in a given cell area the way you reduce congestion is give customers a discount when data underutilized and charge a higher rate when congestion is high not uniform metered rates.

You can abuse any for of internet connection, wired or wireless. When you are in the top 1% of users its going to be considered abuse. It is no less of people who decide to not use WiFi because it takes 5 seconds longer to load a video compared to LTE. And then that leads to people cutting their landline connection . It comes down to other people not being able to get a decent experience. And most of the time abusers are the first to complain when someone moves onto the sector they use and interrupt their hay day of downloads, and streaming. My brother used clearwire back in the day, and he never had anywhere near the usage that I have seen from these users. And that was with multiple users. I can't even hit that high with a wireline connection. And by the way even wireline services have data caps. With sudden link it was 250Gb and you have to pay for 100gb more. I never hit that even with 3-10 people using it, with Netflix streaming almost 24/7 and constant downloads. And that was with a 30/2 connection. So yeah I can say its abuse to hit 400GB on a wireless service.

[bandwithhog]

You can abuse any for of internet connection, wired or wireless. When you are in the top 1% of users its going to be considered abuse. It is no less of people who decide to not use WiFi because it takes 5 seconds longer to load a video compared to LTE. And then that leads to people cutting their landline connection . It comes down to other people not being able to get a decent experience. And most of the time abusers are the first to complain when someone moves onto the sector they use and interrupt their hay day of downloads, and streaming. My brother used clearwire back in the day, and he never had anywhere near the usage that I have seen from these users. And that was with multiple users. I can't even hit that high with a wireline connection. And by the way even wireline services have data caps. With sudden link it was 250Gb and you have to pay for 100gb more. I never hit that even with 3-10 people using it, with Netflix streaming almost 24/7 and constant downloads. And that was with a 30/2 connection. So yeah I can say its abuse to hit 400GB on a wireless service.

 

I doubt you will not hit these limits with your Netflix running 24/7. You can consider about 1-2 GB per hour on Netflix (connected TV etc). so you have 24 GB - 48 GB in a 24 hour window and Satellite is going to kick you off. They max buckets are 10 GB and that is not a lot.

 

My work requires the transmission of large files from the field and each file is between 2-4 GB big. Tested satellite and it was a no go. Clear works great and I should have later today my unlimited LTE hotspot just hope that the LTE is finally getting better in my area. Verizon sucked for the last couple of days as their network seem to have issues. 

[newyorker]

Here's an analogy. Most people work 9am to 5pm in NYC therefore when it's 5 or 6pm houdreds of thousand and millions of people all at the same time try to use public transportation and the roads. By analogy to wireless broadband you can say those people are abusing the transportation systems. But that's not really the problem. I'll leave as an excercise to see if you can guess what the real problem is.

[Destroyallcubes]

Here's an analogy. Most people work 9am to 5pm in NYC therefore when it's 5 or 6pm houdreds of thousand and millions of people all at the same time try to use public transportation and the roads. By analogy to wireless broadband you can say those people are abusing the transportation systems. But that's not really the problem. I'll leave as an excercise to see if you can guess what the real problem is.

no its more like you using the interstate going over the speed limit and complain when you get a ticket, or when you get to traffic and get slowed down. Your comparison has no implication of how one individual is causing issues. The issue is at hand people see an open stretch of highway and want to go as fast as you can and expect it to be that for forever. And yes that highway is compared to the sector.

[S4GRU]

Here's an analogy. Most people work 9am to 5pm in NYC therefore when it's 5 or 6pm houdreds of thousand and millions of people all at the same time try to use public transportation and the roads. By analogy to wireless broadband you can say those people are abusing the transportation systems. But that's not really the problem. I'll leave as an excercise to see if you can guess what the real problem is.

 

The transportation system is not unlimited.  If they made it unlimited, nobody would be able to use it because it would be impossibly full.  When you showed up at the station, all the trains would be full and you would have to wait for hours to go anywhere.  That is what is happening with your data too.  You hit send and you have to wait because too many unlimited users are queued ahead of you.

 

THAT ACTUALLY IS A PERFECT ANALOGY.  Thanks for making my point.  

 

Robert

[Nickel]

The transportation system is not unlimited.  If they made it unlimited, nobody would be able to use it because it would be impossibly full.  When you showed up at the station, all the trains would be full and you would have to wait for hours to go anywhere.  That is what is happening with your data too.  You hit send and you have to wait because too many unlimited users are queued ahead of you.

 

THAT ACTUALLY IS A PERFECT ANALOGY.  Thanks for making my point.  

 

Robert

You are a very patient man, Robert. I would have closed down the WiMax part of the forum a long time ago.

[newyorker]

Well the answer is that there is congestion because the wireless service is mismanaged and there is a lack of vision and creative solutions with both Sprint and competitiors. You say everybody would try to abuse the service? Well not everybody has the same needs and not everybody uses the internet the same way. Remember a the are a cell tower services is small. Not everyones wants to use the highway or drive 24/7 and at 100mph. Solutions like different speed tiers, priority tiers for video and voice data LTE, discounts for off-peak usage, etc. So the problem is not the customers but the lack of vision of the providers.

[S4GRU]

Well the answer is that there is congestion because the wireless service is mismanaged and there is a lack of vision and creative solutions with both Sprint and competitiors. You say everybody would try to abuse the service? Well not everybody has the same needs and not everybody uses the internet the same way. Remember a the are a cell tower services is small. Not everyones wants to use the highway or drive 24/7 and at 100mph. Solutions like different speed tiers, priority tiers for video and voice data LTE, discounts for off-peak usage, etc. So the problem is not the customers but the lack of vision of the providers.

 

Yes, you perfectly described tiered service and why we shouldn't have unlimited.  You make the best points for me.  Thanks again!  Why is that abusers think they should be unlimited and eat as much as they want, but their over consumption will be made up by those people who don't use as much?  Nice try.

 

Robert

[S4GRU]

You are a very patient man, Robert. I would have closed down the WiMax part of the forum a long time ago.

 

You're right.  This keeps getting off topic.  The people who remain on WiMax are extremely heavy users who know they have a good thing going.  All they do is snivel and try to scheme how they are going to abuse the next network they can get unlimited on.  Nothing new has been discussed in this thread for a long time.  It's time to close it.  Thanks for the suggestion.

 

Robert

[marioc21]

Title pretty much says it all. I'm seeing this pop up on tech sites, so I guess it's news. Not really much of a surprise right?

 

http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/sprint-shutter-wimax-network-end-2015-will-turn-least-6000-clearwire-sites/2014-04-07#ixzz2yDrvb6bw

 

Sprint (NYSE:S) expects to shutter at least 6,000 cell sites as it makes plans to shut down WiMAX service by the end of 2015. Sprint has long said it would maintain WiMAX service through 2015, but has not given many details on what exactly it will do with the network after that date.

 

According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, when Sprint bought Clearwire last summer the company had deployed WiMAX on around 17,000 cell sites and was in the process of deploying TD-LTE technology on around 5,000 of these sites--work that is now complete. Sprint plan to expand its TD-LTE deployment to around 5,000 more legacy Clearwire sites as part of its Sprint Spark tri-band LTE service. Sprint plans to expand Spark to 100 million POPs by the end of this year and roughly 100 markets by 2016.

Read more: Sprint to shutter WiMAX network by end of 2015, will turn off at least 6,000 towers - FierceWireless http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/sprint-shutter-wimax-network-end-2015-will-turn-least-6000-clearwire-sites/2014-04-07#ixzz2yDrvb6bw 
Subscribe at FierceWireless

 

 

 

Anybody know how many wimax devices are still out there?  I know I have one that's still on an active line. 

[utiz4321]

Not at all surprising.

[Nickel]

 

/WiMAX abusers

[COZisBack]

Topic Reopened to discuss 2015 Shut down date. As soon as speaking about abusing the network returns, it will be locked immediately.

[COZisBack]

Title pretty much says it all. I'm seeing this pop up on tech sites, so I guess it's news. Not really much of a surprise right?

 

http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/sprint-shutter-wimax-network-end-2015-will-turn-least-6000-clearwire-sites/2014-04-07#ixzz2yDrvb6bw

 

 

 

Anybody know how many wimax devices are still out there?  I know I have one that's still on an active line. 

 

I don't have a number, but I believe the number is still somewhat substantial. A lot of those users that are not there just to abuse the network are rolling off onto LTE equipped devices as their upgrades are now due and Network Vision is usable across a lot of the U.S.

 

We do need to see the network shut down so additional TDD-LTE carriers can be deployed to provide a better B41 network.

[grapkoski]

I can't tell if this has been directly answered yet, but has anything leaked out of Sprint about the surviving Clear sites converting to full NV build or remain data only.

[PythonFanPA]

Didn't think the thread needed to be locked necessarily, but shouldn't it really belong in the Wimax forum topically?

 

Edit: nevermind, it looks like it was moved there in the midst of my posting

[duddys31]

So they wouldn't be able to shut down protection sites would they. I would think that they would have to keep them for build out requirements in that area.

[supert0nes]

So they wouldn't be able to shut down protection sites would they. I would think that they would have to keep them for build out requirements in that area.

 

Some of the protection sites might be covered by existing NV equipment though just by adding 2500.

 

But for the rest, I would convert any protection sites outside of current Sprint network to full nv builds with 800/1900/2500. 

[epra72]

I read that 6000 sites are being shut down with the wimax discontinuance. Are those sites with just wimax on them?

[COZisBack]

I read that 6000 sites are being shut down with the wimax discontinuance. Are those sites with just wimax on them?

I'm going to answer this multiple ways as your question may mean multiple things.

• Those Clearwire WiMax sites may be co-located with other wireless providers including Sprint Legacy/NV sites.
• The Clearwire Sites that are broadcasting WiMax will have their Dual Radios activated to add LTE to the WiMax if not already.
• Some sites that are currently broadcasting WiMax may be upgraded to LTE 2600 only equipment in the future and may even receive a form of NV at some point in time.

[bandwithhog]

Title pretty much says it all. I'm seeing this pop up on tech sites, so I guess it's news. Not really much of a surprise right?

 

http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/sprint-shutter-wimax-network-end-2015-will-turn-least-6000-clearwire-sites/2014-04-07#ixzz2yDrvb6bw

 

 

 

Anybody know how many wimax devices are still out there?  I know I have one that's still on an active line. 

 

My guess between 6-8 million including the 1 million direct customers based on numbers from the last Clearwire quarterly report and reduced by churn.

[radem]

Title pretty much says it all. I'm seeing this pop up on tech sites, so I guess it's news. Not really much of a surprise right?

 

http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/sprint-shutter-wimax-network-end-2015-will-turn-least-6000-clearwire-sites/2014-04-07#ixzz2yDrvb6bw

 

 

 

Anybody know how many wimax devices are still out there?  I know I have one that's still on an active line. 

Freedompop is still selling wimax devices.  I have one from them.

[bigsnake49]

Sprint needs to shutdown WiMax and fast. They need to reclaim the 3x10MHz spectrum used for Wimax for mobile LTE. This is where Clearwire's decision to use use 3x10Mhz per site is coming back to haunt them. They also need to get going on the fixed LTE deployment with Dish. It is part of the whole story being told to FCC and DOJ to get the T-Mobile merger approved. The big problem with the merger is not the elimination of competition, it is the decrease in demand for spectrum in the upcoming auction, money that is supposed to fund the nationwide public safety network. Let's face it, if the merger goes through, T-Mobile/Sprint will not bid for spectrum in the upcoming AWS-3 auction. They will bid big in the 600Mhz auction. 

[UPdownLoAD]

I actually don't believe there are a lot of Sprint contract people still using WiMax, although I just looked at Sprint's website and they are offering 4 WiMax preowned phones (5, but the S2 is out of stock). Generally speaking, looking at the NV Site Complete map (Sponsor), there doesn't appear to be too many cities left where WiMax is your only (open) "4G" option.

 

However, there are a lot of prepaid and MVNOs like Freedompop & Netzero using it. My guess is Sprint would like to have some $ coming in while they're rolling out NV1.0-2.5 vs none. It also relieves LTE network congestion by having MVNOs use WiMax vs newly rolled-out LTE.

[Deval]

The comments on that FierceWireless thread are killing me. 

 

It really bugs me how people just love to beat dead horses. Probably the same people who stalk their ex-girlfriend's houses and look through the windows at night.