Sprint to expand to Montana using shut down CellularOne sites

[lilotimz]

When is Erricsons 7 year management contract up?

2016

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[avb]

Nah, it was the popularity of the Evo and lack of investments that crippled the network.

 

This.  I remember when I first got the Evo, my 3g speeds were decent (usually 600kbps -1mbs) but I was waiting for more Wimax coverage.  Unfortunately Wimax was nothing but a bunch of hot spots around town and I saw my 3g speeds decline over the next 6 months until it became almost unusable in many places around Houston.

[lynyrd65]

I think a big part of it was also AT&T getting rid of Unlimited data. It prompted my whole family to switch so we could get smartphones on an affordable plan.

[njjdnt]

 

[Paynefanbro]

 

 

So is that pseudo-native 1x?

[njjdnt]

So is that pseudo-native 1x?

Nope, counted as roaming. 

[WiWavelength]

The above SignalCheck Pro and engineering screenshots have nothing to do with the takeover of Chinook PCS sites.  The screenshots are of Nemont Communications, a local CDMA2000 operator.

 

http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/UlsSearch/licenseMarketSum.jsp?licKey=2360492

http://www.nemont.net/pdfs/Nemont-local-wireless-coverage.pdf

 

AJ

[njjdnt]

The above SignalCheck Pro and engineering screenshots have nothing to do with the takeover of Chinook PCS sites.  

 

AJ

Do we know the location of Chinook PCS sites in Billings, MT?  If so I'll specifically focus on them, otherwise I'll drive around and look at all sites that I can find. 

[WiWavelength]

Do we know the location of Chinook PCS sites in Billings, MT?  If so I'll specifically focus on them, otherwise I'll drive around and look at all sites that I can find. 

 

No, not that I am aware.  Billings is not that large of a city, though, so Chinook PCS sites should not be that hard to find.  However, that would be largely a waste of your time.  The Chinook sites have been turned off, some may have been decommissioned, but they are all W-CDMA/GSM or GSM only sites.  The infrastructure is of no use to Sprint.

 

AJ

[S4GRU]

What may be happening now at some Chinook PCS sites though is installation of Samsung NV equipment. And that would be good to look for around Billings.

[orangeblue]

Is there a timeframe when Sprint will have the network up and running? There is a core CDMA network and will that be used first before going full NV on Montana?

[S4GRU]

Is there a timeframe when Sprint will have the network up and running? There is a core CDMA network and will that be used first before going full NV on Montana?

 

We aren't aware of any details, yet.

[NGeorge]

I have to say I helped a couple of offices migrate from T lines to FTTP and this is totally true. In my case I had to enact my backup plan because WindStream literally pushed the date like 4 times. I ended up going with Comcast Metro Ethernet and boy were they a TON easier/cheaper to deal with.

 

I went through this same thing at my office but with Metro Ethernet... absolute worst telecom experience of my life. I wish it upon noone.

 

We were using 4 bonded T1's w/ a MPLS link to another office with T's as well. It was supposed to be a 20 meg line, and 4.5 months later I ended up with 10 megs (after multiple visits, 'line conditioning', plus a couple visits where techs showed up with no clue what they were doing) -- coming up on nearly a year and it's still at 10.

 

My CLEC XO Networks says Centurylink can't deliver enough clean pairs to provide me the 20 megs that they swear are available; Centurylink says that XO's equipment can't support the additional pairs, but if it could, they'd totally install them -- THEN XO calls and says "we'll just bring fiber to the premises" -- no build charge -- HELL YES I say... CenturyLink says their still waiting on the orders -- but it'd be a 70 grand job if I ordered from them... Meanwhile I constantly have 1-2 of my 8 pairs inoperable and our service is more like 7-8 megs (Comcast can't build to our location for less than 100 grand as no cable even comes up this far let alone FTTP -- but at least the guy who came out and inspected was honest and upfront).

 

I wish I would have just added a couple more T1's and sat happy with 9 megs. The T1's were rock solid. So if the cell companies are dealing with ANYTHING like this with thousands and thousands of sites, I can only imagine the PURE HELL and feel a little more sympathetic about the delays....

 

Back on topic -- MTPCS used the 10 mhz. F block in central and eastern Montana. Not a large amount of spectrum, and nothing contiguous with Sprint. That said, it is contiguous with AT&T, who has the lower C block in these locations -- and it makes perfect sense. Especially if Sprint reclaims the 10 mhz. lease they had to AT&T in the middle of their B block...

[NGeorge]

Everyone has a theory on the Montana FIT -- but I just have a feeling they are located on Sprint's towers that they acquired from Qwest in 2004... If you remember, Qwest provided native service in Montana, then Sprint did for a few years after they got ahold of them until the Alltel thing happened -- and even after the Alltel thing happened it also appeared to me, since I was in Billings and Butte and while my Blackberry happily camped on Alltel's 850 1x and EV-DO as native, my Epic 4G camped on native Sprint, using the Spokane SID for 1x at PCS, while Alltel's EV-DO for data -- but only in the old Qwest areas; everywhere else it picked up Alltel for both... so up until around 2011 Sprint still had CDMA on these towers... apparently when AT&T pulled the plug, they also pulled their native 1x service off the Qwest towers...

 

Here are two examples that are under the Sprint name:

 

This one is active:

http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/asrRegistration.jsp?regKey=2612078

 

...one that was dismantled:

http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/asrRegistration.jsp?regKey=2612652

 

 

I did this search two years ago and came up with a lot more that had been renewed in 2010 (16 sites IIRC which was about the number of sites Qwest had in Montana) and under the Sprint name at that but can't seem to find them now. I have a feeling they leased them out to CCR or someone else -- since if they would have dismantled them they would have shown up.. so the only way to track them down would be to look at all the towers and find the ones originally built by US West Wireless... that will be labor intensive.

[cdk]

Quarterly bump. Any new news or at least wild rumors on this?

[payturr]

Quarterly bump. Any new news or at least wild rumors on this?

I would imagine with the new debt they have taken up for equipment, some of said equipment would go to Montana

[S4GRU]

Here's our song for Marcelo

 

 

Maybe Marie and Marcelo can meet up to announce new service in Montana in a few months? 

[cdk]

I would imagine with the new debt they have taken up for equipment, some of said equipment would go to Montana

 

I was thinking that might be a possibility. That might partially explain why Samsung's financing was significantly larger than ALUs...all though it doesn't explain the amount Nokia provided (of course maybe that might be needed to clean up after Ericsson)...

[payturr]

I was thinking that might be a possibility. That might partially explain why Samsung's financing was significantly larger than ALUs...all though it doesn't explain the amount Nokia provided (of course maybe that might be needed to clean up after Ericsson)...

Probably planning to split Montana, Wyoming, and the Dakotas between the two.

[gnoj]

Quarterly bump. Any new news or at least wild rumors on this?

Considering the first buildout deadlines for some of Sprint's licenses are in March 2016, and that it takes 12-16 months to deploy a network of sufficient size in a brand new market, I would definitely expect to hear some rumblings of activity from Montana by this spring.

[dkyeager]

any site reports?

[bucdenny]

Considering the first buildout deadlines for some of Sprint's licenses are in March 2016, and that it takes 12-16 months to deploy a network of sufficient size in a brand new market, I would definitely expect to hear some rumblings of activity from Montana by this spring.

 

Couldn't Sprint just deploy 1 site per city since 800 has the range to cover an entire city?   

[Paynefanbro]

Couldn't Sprint just deploy 1 site per city since 800 has the range to cover an entire city?   

 

That'd be so bad. Too many users for one tower. Sprint is just gonna  build out on all of those old CellularOne sites.

[bucdenny]

That'd be so bad. Too many users for one tower. Sprint is just gonna  build out on all of those old CellularOne sites.

 

Are there existing subs in Montana?  For Montana it might work just to get it going and fill in as user base grows.  Each site would have coverage for 800, 1900 and 2.5 at full power.  Just 1xAdvance alone could take a lot of voice load?  

[Paynefanbro]

Are there existing subs in Montana?  For Montana it might work just to get it going and fill in as user base grows.  Each site would have coverage for 800, 1900 and 2.5 at full power.  Just 1xAdvance alone could take a lot of voice load?  

 

If Sprint were to do that people wouldn't come because coverage would be poor in too many places. If people did come, the network would get loaded way to quickly. If you want to put one tower in a small town, that's one thing. But one tower in a city is not nearly enough.