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

[caspar347]

So Sprint has gotten approval on its network funding plan.  

 

http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/sprint-gets-ok-softbank-move-ahead-network-densification-plan/2015-06-03

Obligatory:

[mozamcrew]

I just listen to a podcast that explains mega project often take longer, cost more and have fewer benefits than are forecasted. A mega project being one that cost more than 1 billion and effects more than one million people. I think Network Vision fell victim to over ambition and under delivering. This has cost sprint a lot in terms of brand and it is going to take years to recover.

 

Alright! Another fellow EconTalk podcast listener.

 

[utiz4321]

Alright! Another fellow EconTalk podcast listener.

 

It really is one of the best podcasts out there, especially if you have a background in economics.

[BlueAngel]

Cool and all but I just want optimized 800 LTE.

[mozamcrew]

It really is one of the best podcasts out there, especially if you have a background in economics.

http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2015/05/bent_flyvbjerg.html

 

 For those that are wondering what utiz is talking about...

[KD8JBF]

Just in case anyone was wondering....Seen this come across the wire today....

 

http://www.computerworld.com/article/2931539/it-industry/dish-network-t-mobile-us-reportedly-in-merger-talks.html

 

Not Sprint Related, but effects Sprint....How much spectrum would they get if they combined?

[maxsilver]

Just in case anyone was wondering....Seen this come across the wire today....

 

http://www.computerworld.com/article/2931539/it-industry/dish-network-t-mobile-us-reportedly-in-merger-talks.html

 

Not Sprint Related, but effects Sprint....How much spectrum would they get if they combined?

 

It's being discussed in the T-Mobile thread http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/6950-t-mobile-lte-network-discussion-v2/page-13 

[KD8JBF]

It's being discussed in the T-Mobile thread http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/6950-t-mobile-lte-network-discussion-v2/page-13 

 

Thanks for the heads up!

[JossMan]

I hope some details get spilled soon....Throw us dogs some bones please!!

[JeffDTD]

Cool. Correct me if I am wrong but this will be the first massive network plan under Marcelo?

 

And people said that SoftBank is not standing behind sprint.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Its often more that these "people" don't WANT Softbank to stand behind Sprint. Predictions of any kind of improvement at sprint are always met with agitation to convince the public of the opposite, reference article today http://www.bidnessetc.com/44411-heres-why-morgan-stanley-thinks-sprint-corp-stock-might-tumble-to-alltime-l/ predicting a $2.00 stock price while sprint stock actually surged this morning all while one of the largest and wealthiest telecommunications corporations in the world remains Sprint's owner with no stated or inferred intent to sell. In fact, they still want to acquire more US presence.

[Deval]

The Tempest, Act 2, Scene I

"(And by that destiny) to perform an act, Whereof what's past is prologue; what to come, In yours and my discharge." 

 

I'm hoping this isn't true, but you know everyone else is thinking this.

 

That is awesome.

[davidtm]

So, I'm thinking that the best demonstration project for this would be supporting Shentel in re-doing the nTelos network! :-P

 

Sent from Tapatalk on either my HTC One M9 or Tab4 10.1, it kinda depends

[VW Maverick]

Mav.

 

Sent from the future on my Sprint Nexus 6.

[utiz4321]

Mav.

 

Sent from the future on my Sprint Nexus 6.

Yeah, but sprint needs to get all of their spectrum assets deployed.

[Terrell352]

Yeah, but sprint needs to get all of their spectrum assets deployed.

That's Sprints main problem. If they had a deadline put on them to have band 41 even in 60% of there network footprint by the end of the year or lose spectrum. I doubt they would be able to do it. Even though band 41 deployment is suppose to be easier than network vision 1.0

[lilotimz]

That's Sprints main problem. If they had a deadline put on them to have band 41 even in 60% of there network footprint by the end of the year or lose spectrum. I doubt they would be able to do it. Even though band 41 deployment is suppose to be easier than network vision 1.0

 

If they had to get a pop covered requirement they would absolutely meet it and without much trouble. 

 

Alas they don't need to get pops covered and they aren't aiming to get pops covered. They're aiming to provide extroardinary service to focus markets with hotspot deployments on secondary and tertiary markets as needed and that they're doing wonderful relative to all their previous efforts. 

[Terrell352]

If they had to get a pop covered requirement they would absolutely meet it and without much trouble.

 

Alas they don't need to get pops covered and they aren't aiming to get pops covered. They're aiming to provide extroardinary service to focus markets with hotspot deployments on secondary and tertiary markets as needed and that they're doing wonderful relative to all their previous efforts.

Based on what I have seen in Florida from Tampa all the way to Memphis the other carriers have more spectrum deployed even in little cities and mid sized ones that have outgrown there spectrum for that area while if your on Sprint in peak hours with only band 25/26 your pretty much sol. Not trying to single out Sprint as I have seen it the other way but most of the time Sprint is the carrier suffering capacity issues while the other carriers most of the time don't have that problem because they have more spectrum deployed not just in big cities either. I have seen mid sized cities like Sarasota, Tallahassee, few places in GA and even Memphis with barely any band 41 some sites to the point that they barely work. On the big two they have so much more spectrum deployed that I rarely have a problem with them loading a web page. Sprint it happens often during peak hours when band 41 is not around and that's not okay.

[lilotimz]

Based on what I have seen in Florida from Tampa all the way to Memphis the other carriers have more spectrum deployed even in little cities and mid sized ones that have outgrown there spectrum for that area while if your on Sprint in peak hours with only band 25/26 your pretty much sol. Not trying to single out Sprint as I have seen it the other way but most of the time Sprint is the carrier suffering capacity issues while the other carriers most of the time don't have that problem because they have more spectrum deployed not just in big cities either. I have seen mid sized cities like Sarasota, Tallahassee, few places in GA and even Memphis with barely any band 41 some sites to the point that they barely work. On the big two they have so much more spectrum deployed that I rarely have a problem with them loading a web page. Sprint it happens often during peak hours when band 41 is not around and that's not okay.

 

Don't move the goal posts. 

 

Either way the answer is as clear as day. Sprint, under Marcelos direct orders with explicit approval from Masa is focusing on focus markets with hotspot additions where needed. Which is what most have said should've been done the first place. 

 

If the service is not okay to you or other people then you or other people are free to leave. Vote with your wallets.

[Terrell352]

Don't move the goal posts.

 

Either way the answer is as clear as day. Sprint, under Marcelos direct orders with explicit approval from Masa is focusing on focus markets with hotspot additions where needed. Which is what most have said should've been done the first place.

 

If the service is not okay to you or other people then you or other people are free to leave. Vote with your wallets.

Its not a complaint. I don't see the deployment they claim to be making. I see small townships even getting band 41 where mid sized cities under capacity pressure get no love. I'm not even that far away from a place I never heard of. Bell, Florida with a population of less than 1000 get band 41 where my city limit is around 65,000 and get not even 1 tower with band 41. It does not make sense and proves that there deployment is not all based on just major metros.

[lilotimz]

'm not even that far away from a place I never heard of. Bell, Florida with a population of less than 1000 get band 41 where my city limit is around 65,000 and get not even 1 tower with band 41. 

 

I will stop you here Terrell.

 

You will immediately cease your complaining especially about your home city. First it was the the two sites that were legacy. Then after they were converted you complained about it not having Band 25. When band 25 activated you complained about slow speeds and no band 26. When band 26 was activated you complained about slow speeds and lacking of Band 41. 

 

By all standards you have a definite history of complaining and saying "It's not a complaint" does not help you at all especially once you bring up your home city. So cut it out. 

 

-----------

 

As to the rest of it your anecdotal experiences prove nothing except you found sites that were deployed as part of the original strategy before Marcelo changed it all.

 

The priority market focusing is straight from  Marcelo 

 

See: 

 

http://s4gru.com/index.php?/blog/1/entry-375-marcelo-declares-a-new-day-for-sprint-and-changes-band-41-priorities/

 

In the second wave of the Band 41 8T8R deployment attack, Sprint will be “going strong after a few cities...focusing on a few critical markets and deploying an experience that hasn't been seen yet in the U.S.”

Shifting the focus to areas that need the extra capacity first is strategically important. If implemented properly, getting Band 41 LTE sites deployed across all markets where they are absolutely needed for extra capacity will help make the network more usable for end users. “There is no need for us to plaster the nation with 2.5, because it is going to take too long,” Claure said. “Rather we’d like to get some wins early on.”

 

 

 

http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/sprint-tweaks-25-ghz-lte-deployment-strategy-target-congested-parts-network/2014-09-12

 

 

"When I got there, the initial plan is, let's just deploy 2.5 [GHz] across our 33,000 sites [cell sites]," Claure said, according to a Seeking Alpha transcript of his remarks at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference. "What it means is it takes you too long to be good anywhere."

...

"And then secondly, we are going to go strong after a few cities rather than building out the 33,000 [2.5 GHz cell] sites," Claure said. "We are going to first focus on getting a certain amount of cities, where we can provide customers our end-to-end experience."

...

"So, now once we build 2.5 in some selected markets that we will be announcing soon, we are going to focus on those markets and provide an experience of the speeds that haven't been deployed in the U.S.," Claure said. "So, you are going to see a really, really focused effort in terms of where do we deploy it and how do we use our capital and capex a lot more effective than we have had. There is no need to plaster the nation with 2.5, because it's going to take us too long. So, we want to get some early wins by providing [the experience 2.5 GHz spectrum can deliver]."

 

[BenChase7]

^

Like a Boss.

[Terrell352]

I will stop you here Terrell.

 

You will immediately cease your complaining especially about your home city. First it was the the two sites that were legacy. Then after they were converted you complained about it not having Band 25. When band 25 activated you complained about slow speeds and no band 26. When band 26 was activated you complained about slow speeds and lacking of Band 41.

 

By all standards you have a definite history of complaining and saying "It's not a complaint" does not help you at all especially once you bring up your home city. So cut it out.

 

-----------

 

As to the rest of it your anecdotal experiences prove nothing except you found sites that were deployed as part of the original strategy before Marcelo changed it all.

 

The priority market focusing is straight from Marcelo

 

See:

 

http://s4gru.com/index.php?/blog/1/entry-375-marcelo-declares-a-new-day-for-sprint-and-changes-band-41-priorities/

 

 

http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/sprint-tweaks-25-ghz-lte-deployment-strategy-target-congested-parts-network/2014-09-12

I'm glad you have kept the history of my area. Its all true though and if you have that history then you will know there are plenty of times I gave Sprint praise as well. They have some of the best call quality and coverage around and even where there towers are failing they have still have very good ping times somehow. There equipment switches bands faster than any other carrier also which shows that the network is trying to prioritize you to the best band. It's what I have observed throughout the last 2 years since deployment began. I have watched other carriers leapfrog Sprint in capacity some times 3 times over(looking at you Verizon). Metro and cricket even have Sprint beat on capacity deployed. Verizon 20mhz band 4 and 10mhz band 13 vs At&t 5mhz band 2/4/5 and 10mhz band 17 deployed with carrier aggregation, T-Mobile 15mhz band 4 and 5mhz band 12 vs Sprint 5mhz band 25 and 5mhz band 26. And they have unlimited vs tiered. It puts a lot of stress on the network that they offer unlimited without the capacity to match in many markets that are at capacity. Its not a complaint but a observation and I see it as a major problem for Sprint. Maybe others will disagree, some will agree with me.

[joshuam]

Just to add to what Terrell is saying about his home market...in Baltimore/Central MD, even in areas with full 26,25,41 (8t8r) I am still getting a lot of 3G along major highways. When I have LTE, even band 41 now that so many people have Spark decives, it is below 5Mbps (occasionally it'll cap in the 20's, but not often anymore). We have density and capacity issues in Maryland. I really hope they can add a few more towers to this area. Until then, at least the 3G is fast enough to stream Spotify.

 

Edit: Marcelo seems quite aware of the capacity issues Sprint has, in his response on Twitter last night.

[avb]

Did Sprint ever officially announce which cities will be the focus cities that will be covered in b41?  I still think Sprint can improve on the network optimizations as far as load balancing between bands.

[S4GRU]

Terrell352, you know that B41 started late in Nokia (Ericsson) markets. You also know that Tampa has a lot of B41 deployed. Mucho spectrum. You also know that picking a route from Your part of Florida to Memphis would put you through ZERO old WiMax markets, so there would be no B41 from legacy Clearwire sites. All are going to have to be organic Nokia B41 8T8R adds.

 

No one seems surprised that this largely rural Southern zone from Ocala to Memphis would be one of the later areas for Nokia to get to and one of the lowest priorities Marcelo will set. Except you. Everyone thinks their area is the most important and doesn't understand why Sprint doesn't do theirs first. And no one doubts Ocala needs it. But other places have been chosen first by Marcelo.

 

You seem to like to take the Ocala area data, which you are very familiar, and find any supporting data to extrapolate that across an entire region and sometimes an entire country. It's very annoying and actually pretty off topic for this thread.

 

If you want to compare what VZW, ATT and Tmo are doing in the Lower JAX market, please do so in the Jacksonville market thread. But we do not accept your observations as the national story. Otherwise we are going to let the Kansas/Missouri people decide what's going on in their area be the national story, because it's what they see everyday and where they travel. Which we would challenge too if they tried to extrapolate that experience nationwide.

 

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