Marcelo Claure, Town Hall Meetings, New Family Share Pack Plan, Unlimited Individual Plan, Discussion Thread

[Overstew]

If some phones supported Svdo and SvLTE, why doesn't Sprint just include that (two radio paths for 1x and LTE)?  Seems like a better option since VoLTE w/ CDMA fallback is not one.

[kg4icg]

What most people don't realize is that most long distance nationwide calls even for cellphones are handled by way of satellite. Not all phone calls are going by way of terrestial based options.

 

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[bigsnake49]

What most people don't realize is that most long distance nationwide calls even for cellphones are handled by way of satellite. Not all phone calls are going by way of terrestial based options.

 

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They're handled by fiber pretty much all the way. Only where there is no density and the place is not on a major highway are they handled by microwave. 

[smooth25]

It doesn't really make clear whether they mean 3G voice, 3G data, or both. Could just be 3G data.

 

- Trip

True, but I would guess both since they are going to use it as part of their cell phone carrier in Japan and then Sprint.

Like you said I wonder if voice would be separate or VoLte.

 

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[chamb]

They're handled by fiber pretty much all the way. Only where there is no density and the place is not on a major highway are they handled by microwave. 

Correct.  Very Very few long distance calls in the United States are handled by Satellite. Fiber optics handles almost everything even to Alaska and Hawaii.  You will notice the delay in the conversation if you ever experience a satellite connection on a long distance call.

Not desirable at all.    I did notice some delay in Hawaii 15 years ago, but most of that is gone now.

[gusherb]

What most people don't realize is that most long distance nationwide calls even for cellphones are handled by way of satellite. Not all phone calls are going by way of terrestial based options.

 

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No, long distance is handled by fiber! before fiber it was microwave, and before microwave it was very long copper lines. Satellite was never used for any day to day mainstream communications.

[payturr]

What most people don't realize is that most long distance nationwide calls even for cellphones are handled by way of satellite. Not all phone calls are going by way of terrestial based options.

 

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Just google transatlantic cable

[payturr]

What most people don't realize is that most long distance nationwide calls even for cellphones are handled by way of satellite. Not all phone calls are going by way of terrestial based options.

 

Sent from my LGLS996 using Tapatalk

Fiber pal, even used for international calls in most cases I believe. Google transatlantic cable

[ahecht]

The speed of light hasn't changed lately as far as I'm aware.

 

- Trip

 

 

No, but in the last year the O3b satellite constellation has come online, and SkyEdge II has been certified to use it (http://www.gilat.com/O3b-Certifies-Gilat%E2%80%99s-meoEdge-TDMASCPC-Terminal).

 

O3b is using low earth orbit satellites to provide low-latency high-bandwidth internet connections (round-trip time of less than 150ms). They use a constellation of satellites large enough that there is always one in view (as long as your latitude is somewhere between 60 North and 60 South), the antennas on the satellites are steerable to track the ground stations, and the ground stations have two receivers, making the switchover between satellites seamless. Some of the newest Royal Caribbean cruise ships have been using O3b with very good results.

[smooth25]

About voice. This link is from 2014 so I'm sure the tech has improved as the latest news states. This is about using small cell with satellite.

http://www.gilat.com/dynimages/policies/SM_Apr2014_Gilat.pdf

 

" Gilat technology also minimizes satellite space segment overhead by applying efficient voice and data compression combined with satellite bandwidth allocation on demand, which reduces satellite OPEX by up to 80%, compared to traditional solutions."

 

It also mentioned only around 34 users using voice and data at a time. Maybe the recent developments expand that number as that is very little and probably why it hasn't come to the U.S.

 

 

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[nexgencpu]

Looks like the buyback is having the net affect they intended. 

 

http://www.livemint.com/Companies/9QZiZYR2SSRkzQYLU2ae0H/SoftBank-value-swells-11-billion-on-record-buyback-plan.html

 

 

Also Sprint is up nearly 6%.

[Flompholph]

Looks like SoftBank's satellite trail went ok enough to push forward. I still think this would be a good option for rural deployment until fiber can be run. IPtrunk of 1Gbps should be enough for rural sites. Satellite total capacity seems to double the total capacity every couple years looking at only the ViaSat-1(150 Gbps live),ViaSat-2(350Gbps building) and ViaSat-3(1Tbps and planning)

[Arysyn]

Arsyn, just enjoy T-Mobile. Please stop these long-winded diatribes. Nobody wants to read them. Go to Tmonews. They might!

 

 

He uses a net promoter system for those ratings which is common in many fields. In this case a score of 7 is neutral and to be a net promoter he needs a score of 9 or 10.

 

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I didn't intend on writing such a long post previously, but I don't yet have my phone setup, which using a phone has helped me manage my writing on being shorter than when using a desktop. Although, I stand by most of my perspectives in that, which are my opinion, and was not a critical one of anyone here. I was writing my opinion of the article, something which everyone here has a right to write about wireless-related topics, so long as they are not violating site policy. To tell me or anyone else to go elsewhere, isn't very polite. And yes, I am happy with T-Mobile, but that doesn't mean I ought to not write anything here about it or Sprint, etc.

 

Again, I was fair in my post, not bashing Sprint or being critical of them. I think the advancements Sprint has made are very commendable. Still, I find some things in the article a bit disturbing, and felt proper to write about it here, as this is a Sprint-based discussion website. I think from that, it may become a topic eventually of comparison between what Sprint is now, compared to what it could have been, in terms or areas of Sprint which sadly are not improving, and what needs to be done to change that. I find it interesting many people here have been switching away from Sprint, and also mentioning here why that is.

 

I've said here many times I think it would be a great benefit for higher ups at Sprint to read S4GRU and learn from the ideas written here to help the company. Seeing as the article mentions the tour Marcelo Claure is on speaking with Sprint customers, I think he also ought to read this site and learn a lot from it as he is from his customers on tour. As it is, I've learned about the system he is using for rating that I was unaware of. So, there is a lot of value here on this site, and everyone here is a part of that and holds responsibility here. I believe I've done well with that, and as I'll conclude, I'm not critical of others here, and would appreciate the same respect. I will try writing shorter again, as I'm going to be going back to using a phone very soon, which as I mentioned, does help me with that.

[JustinRP37]

I didn't intend on writing such a long post previously, but I don't yet have my phone setup, which using a phone has helped me manage my writing on being shorter than when using a desktop. Although, I stand by most of my perspectives in that, which are my opinion, and was not a critical one of anyone here. I was writing my opinion of the article, something which everyone here has a right to write about wireless-related topics, so long as they are not violating site policy. To tell me or anyone else to go elsewhere, isn't very polite. And yes, I am happy with T-Mobile, but that doesn't mean I ought to not write anything here about it or Sprint, etc.

 

Again, I was fair in my post, not bashing Sprint or being critical of them. I think the advancements Sprint has made are very commendable. Still, I find some things in the article a bit disturbing, and felt proper to write about it here, as this is a Sprint-based discussion website. I think from that, it may become a topic eventually of comparison between what Sprint is now, compared to what it could have been, in terms or areas of Sprint which sadly are not improving, and what needs to be done to change that. I find it interesting many people here have been switching away from Sprint, and also mentioning here why that is.

 

I've said here many times I think it would be a great benefit for higher ups at Sprint to read S4GRU and learn from the ideas written here to help the company. Seeing as the article mentions the tour Marcelo Claure is on speaking with Sprint customers, I think he also ought to read this site and learn a lot from it as he is from his customers on tour. As it is, I've learned about the system he is using for rating that I was unaware of. So, there is a lot of value here on this site, and everyone here is a part of that and holds responsibility here. I believe I've done well with that, and as I'll conclude, I'm not critical of others here, and would appreciate the same respect. I will try writing shorter again, as I'm going to be going back to using a phone very soon, which as I mentioned, does help me with that.

 

I am sure that the higher ups at Sprint have visited this site numerous times.  In fact, I would be shocked if they had not read through  it.  Part of being a CEO is not only knowing your customer, but knowing about your rivals and the general public.  Marcelo most likely searches for news about Sprint and his competitors daily.  I mainly read this site a lot and have since the WiMAX days, but I post far less now, just because of life. 

 

Everyone on this site has been critical of Sprint at one time or another.  Judging from a lot of your posts, I know that you change wireless carriers quite frequently, or it at least seems this way.  While you may be critical of the article, many analysts are starting to see light at the end of the tunnel so to speak.  It is still going to be a tricky road, much like the road T-Mobile is on as well.  It is a very competitive field right now and T-Mobile also has to look out for dropping ARPU.

[derrph]

2nd half 2015

 

http://www.rootmetrics.com/en-US/rootscore/map/national/united-states/2015/2H

 

 

 

Sprint still did well just gotta get the data in place and then they'll be golden.

 

 

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[Paynefanbro]

Sprint seems to have caught up in terms of Metro awards for the second half of 2015 on RootMetrics' National Report.

[Terrell352]

Also rootmetrics did a study in Michigan on T-Mobile 700mhz spectrum and their claims of better coverage. This is what they found. http://rootmetrics.com/en-US/content/t-mobile-s-700-mhz-band-spectrum

[RedSpark]

Sprint Continues to Close the Gap in Overall Network Performance

(By Dr. John Saw, CTO, Sprint)

 

Great post by Dr. Saw on the RootMetrics Report and Sprint's Network improvements. Looking at the figures Dr. Saw cited, Sprint has made incredible progress in the last 12-18 months:

 

• Nationally, Sprint finished third in overall performance, reliability, and text. Eighteen months ago, we ranked last in overall performance.
• Sprint now ranks second nationally in call network performance, beating out AT&T for the first time ever (previously, Sprint and AT&T were tied for second).
• Sprint achieved a total of 212 first place (outright or shared) RootScore® Awards for overall, reliability, speed, data, call, or text network performance in metro markets measured in the second half of 2015. Eighteen months ago, we received 27.

[EvanA]

Also rootmetrics did a study in Michigan on T-Mobile 700mhz spectrum and their claims of better coverage. This is what they found. http://rootmetrics.com/en-US/content/t-mobile-s-700-mhz-band-spectrum

I fired off an email to RM about this. T-Mobile has significant deployment of 700MHz in Michigan, so roaming % increasing doesn't make sense at all. Given that VoLTE was disabled for this round of testing, I suspect they didn't actually test 700MHz in Michigan because disabling VoLTE causes the network to reject connection to 700MHz for E911 requirements. I hope I get a response to clear this up.

[Terrell352]

They should use signal check pro or LTE discovery to make sure they are on the right band when they test.

[Paynefanbro]

I fired off an email to RM about this. T-Mobile has significant deployment of 700MHz in Michigan, so roaming % increasing doesn't make sense at all. Given that VoLTE was disabled for this round of testing, I suspect they didn't actually test 700MHz in Michigan because disabling VoLTE causes the network to reject connection to 700MHz for E911 requirements. I hope I get a response to clear this up.

 

 

But they did connect to 700MHz according to their article. It clearly states 

 

 

...17.6% of our tests outside of the five largest metros in the state were performed on T-Mobile’s 700 MHz spectrum.

 

[RedSpark]

Sprint announces "Better Choice Plans"

 

Interesting moves on pricing. Data prices drop, but access fees go up slightly.

[jonathanm1978]

I wonder if current customers can also take advantage? Right now I'm on the 32gb shared bucket family...and I got...6 phones and 2 tablets...all of which pull from the 32gb. (I guess it's wasteful b/c the highest I've seen my data go is 17gb in a month..still below the initial 20gb that I moved up from before I got the 32gb plan.)

 

I'd like to have one line unlimited...just for giggles...and that way if Sprint ever does away with unlimited, I'd have one line still on it...

[Overstew]

Sprint Continues to Close the Gap in Overall Network Performance

(By Dr. John Saw, CTO, Sprint)

 

Great post by Dr. Saw on the RootMetrics Report and Sprint's Network improvements. Looking at the figures Dr. Saw cited, Sprint has made incredible progress in the last 12-18 months:

I'm sure they made great strides but why does RMs claim Sprint's national rating worse this year than last year?

 

Looks like everyone else got worse too, except Verizon.

[Paynefanbro]

I'm sure they made great strides but why does RMs claim Sprint's national rating worse this year than last year?

 

 

 

Looks like everyone else got worse too, except Verizon.

 

 

It's probably a sliding scale where Verizon performed much better and thus moved the average upward whereas the other carriers didn't do as well comparatively so their rating went down slightly.