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

[Terrell352]

And you have the hard numbers to definitely prove that they do less than "50 upgrades" a day right? 

 

Just because you don't see work in your neighborhood from one network vendor doesn't mean it isn't happening elsewhere. 

 

Also deploying equipment is not a linear line that is the same in every county, every city, every neighborhood with red tape with government or local entities or even renegotiations with the leasee need to take place. Sprints wacky budget allocations (inconsistent) and supplier manufacturing capacity is also a part of the equation.Not to mention Nokia appears to be deploying in a manner different from the other 2 vendors with the lack of substantial work in several secondary and tertiary markets. 

 

Whereas, in my market, and other similar markets of the same vendor (samsung), approximately 40-50% of the markets macro sites (most in urban areas / remainers in rural areas) have been overlaid with 2.5 equipment. So at least anecdotally in Samsung land, the deployment is mostly consistent and within expectations of where it should be by now with them prioritizing urban areas from priority to secondary (yay mine..) and now working on tertiary markets. . 

Not my neighborhood. I travel Florida in general a lot and I can say that unless it is Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville, Daytona, or in the middle of nowhere for some reason, there is no 2.5 around. And these cities still have plenty of sites without it. In mid sized cities 2.5 is urban legend for much of the country. 50mhz for Tmobile, 60mhz for Verizon and At&t while Sprint is still using 20mhz is just odd to me but this is just 8 cities that I have observed in Florida including my own. I have seen mountains of permits for Verizon, Tmobile and At&t but Sprint very little. If T-mobile can do it then Sprint does not have an excuse. The other carriers seem to get it. Sprint is either really far behind or just clueless about how to deploy a network within 2 years. I'm not mad that's why I have 2 carriers for but I have to tell it like it is. Regardless do the math. Spark is two years old now right? They should have 30,000 and I'm under estimating (36,500 to be exact) or more with 2.5 equipment if they were indeed doing 50 sites per day. Since we all know they don't have 30,000 with 2.5. I can say that they don't upgrade 50 sites per day. That's all the proof I need. 

[derrph]

I wonder how valid this is.

 

 

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[Ascertion]

derrph, on 15 Jan 2016 - 08:18 AM, said:

I wonder how valid this is.

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They already trash BingeOn in their commercials by claiming they don't slow down. Doesn't mention that it'll charge you roughly $15-30 per HD movie (ie: overages.)

Terrell352, on 15 Jan 2016 - 06:36 AM, said:

Not my neighborhood. I travel Florida in general a lot and I can say that unless it is Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville, Daytona, or in the middle of nowhere for some reason, there is no 2.5 around. And these cities still have plenty of sites without it. In mid sized cities 2.5 is urban legend for much of the country. 50mhz for Tmobile, 60mhz for Verizon and At&t while Sprint is still using 20mhz is just odd to me but this is just 8 cities that I have observed in Florida including my own. I have seen mountains of permits for Verizon, Tmobile and At&t but Sprint very little. If T-mobile can do it then Sprint does not have an excuse. The other carriers seem to get it. Sprint is either really far behind or just clueless about how to deploy a network within 2 years. I'm not mad that's why I have 2 carriers for but I have to tell it like it is. Regardless do the math. Spark is two years old now right? They should have 30,000 and I'm under estimating (36,500 to be exact) or more with 2.5 equipment if they were indeed doing 50 sites per day. Since we all know they don't have 30,000 with 2.5. I can say that they don't upgrade 50 sites per day. That's all the proof I need.

As someone that's been in a declining market (Jacksonville), I can definitely say Sprint is behind the curve. Honestly, I just made the switch to T-Mobile and it is amazing how much coverage they get or of their B4. Sprints B26 either is outdone by B4 or similar in terms of coverage. Areas that's been Edge have now all been converted around me and now they have at least 10x the bandwidth as Sprint does in my areas (More spectrum deployed and about 50% more towers.) I want Sprint to do well, I really do. But they just do not seem to grasp how important a good network is. We'll see how NGN works out but with them staying as quiet as possible about it, it's hard to have faith in it.

 

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[Terrell352]

They already trash BingeOn in their commercials by claiming they don't slow down. Doesn't mention that it'll charge you roughly $15-30 per HD movie (ie: overages.) As someone that's been in a declining market (Jacksonville), I can definitely say Sprint is behind the curve. Honestly, I just made the switch to T-Mobile and it is amazing how much coverage they get or of their B4. Sprints B26 either is outdone by B4 or similar in terms of coverage. Areas that's been Edge have now all been converted around me and now they have at least 10x the bandwidth as Sprint does in my areas (More spectrum deployed and about 50% more towers.) I want Sprint to do well, I really do. But they just do not seem to grasp how important a good network is. We'll see how NGN works out but with them staying as quiet as possible about it, it's hard to have faith in it.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5X

 

That's what I'm seeing all over the Florida market. T-Mobile band 4 and Verizon band 4 can function even with a 125-130 signal. Sprint can't do the same. Also Sprint may have band 26 just tilted to low for its own good. T-Mobile band 12 is cranked to the max in most situations there signal strength and especially SNR is much more consistent and higher that Sprint. Also most T-Mobile sites in Florida is 20x20mhz band 4 while only a fraction of Sprints sites are with band 2.5. Sprint literally can not compete with the other carriers from a deployed capacity stand point. Not hating on Sprint but its the truth. Even rootmetrics will tell you they are still way behind the curve on speed and capacity but they did improve.

[laqn1283]

It is not that Sprint do not want to upgrade their network faster but it all comes down to cash.  For the first 6 months of this year, they spent 2.3 billion dollars more than they took in and estimate that they will be 4 billions negative cash flow for fiscal year 2015. With that in mind, cutting 2.0 billions in cost and equipment leasing vehicle from Softbank about 2.0 billions a year, that will bring 4.0 billions in extra cash.  So if nothing else change they barely break even.  They have 3.0 billions debt due the end of 2016 so where can they find the money to pay these debts? simple they cut everything else already the only thing is to cut capital expenditure that is why you see little progress on NGN.  They are scheduled to spend 5 billions in capital expenditure in 2016; I doubt it they will; probably 3 billions so they can pay off some debts.  The best we can hope for Sprint is that the migration to 5G is delayed until at least 2020 when heavy spending needed and in the mean time slowly upgrade their network with LTE aggregation and densification.  

[utiz4321]

It is not that Sprint do not want to upgrade their network faster but it all comes down to cash. For the first 6 months of this year, they spent 2.3 billion dollars more than they took in and estimate that they will be 4 billions negative cash flow for fiscal year 2015. With that in mind, cutting 2.0 billions in cost and equipment leasing vehicle from Softbank about 2.0 billions a year, that will bring 4.0 billions in extra cash. So if nothing else change they barely break even. They have 3.0 billions debt due the end of 2016 so where can they find the money to pay these debts? simple they cut everything else already the only thing is to cut capital expenditure that is why you see little progress on NGN. They are scheduled to spend 5 billions in capital expenditure in 2016; I doubt it they will; probably 3 billions so they can pay off some debts. The best we can hope for Sprint is that the migration to 5G is delayed until at least 2020 when heavy spending needed and in the mean time slowly upgrade their network with LTE aggregation and densification.

If they don't invest the money into there network, which is after all is said in done their product, they won't make it to 2020.

 

 

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[Houston_Texas]

 

 

They already trash BingeOn in their commercials by claiming they don't slow down. Doesn't mention that it'll charge you roughly $15-30 per HD movie (ie: overages.)As someone that's been in a declining market (Jacksonville), I can definitely say Sprint is behind the curve. Honestly, I just made the switch to T-Mobile and it is amazing how much coverage they get or of their B4. Sprints B26 either is outdone by B4 or similar in terms of coverage.

 

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Interesting. How is BingeOn affecting you?

 

Sent from my SM-N910T

[Ascertion]

Interesting. How is BingeOn affecting you?

 

Sent from my SM-N910T

Actually, I turned mine off.  If I need to turn it on for any reason, it's a dialer code away.

 

But so far, I am impressed with my LTE coverage and the best part, VoLTE.  Slowest speeds I've gotten in my area is 15mbps. 

[JossMan]

When I read the title of this thread I didn't see T-Mobile in the title anywhere, what happened to the constructive and educational posts regarding Sprint... 

[WiWavelength]

As someone that's been in a declining market (Jacksonville), I can definitely say Sprint is behind the curve. Honestly, I just made the switch to T-Mobile and it is amazing how much coverage they get or of their B4. Sprints B26 either is outdone by B4 or similar in terms of coverage. 

 

Some say an issue with band 26 is lack of optimization.  Some say it is downtilt for capacity -- not coverage.  Some say it is RF limitations of a 5 MHz FDD carrier.  Some say it is power limitations due to running dual mode CDMA2000/LTE.  The situation is complex and varies from site to site.

 

Honestly, I am surprised by your reports about Jacksonville.  Others have stated that the network in Jacksonville has been excellent.  So, maybe your experience is an exception, not the assertion.  Pun intended.

 

AJ

[nexgencpu]

Some say an issue with band 26 is lack of optimization.  Some say it is downtilt for capacity -- not coverage.  Some say it is RF limitations of a 5 MHz FDD carrier.  Some say it is power limitations due to running dual mode CDMA2000/LTE.  The situation is complex and varies from site to site.

 

Honestly, I am surprised by your reports about Jacksonville.  Others have stated that the network in Jacksonville has been excellent.  So, maybe your experience is an exception, not the assertion.  Pun intended.

 

AJ

Im surprised no one has mentioned the Wimax shutdown, from what I recall, Jacksonville is a strong Clearwire market, just like NYC. Single carrier B41 has become quite saturated (barely able to go over 1mb during peak times) 

 

Those second carriers cant come soon enough..

[Ascertion]

Some say an issue with band 26 is lack of optimization.  Some say it is downtilt for capacity -- not coverage.  Some say it is RF limitations of a 5 MHz FDD carrier.  Some say it is power limitations due to running dual mode CDMA2000/LTE.  The situation is complex and varies from site to site.

 

Honestly, I am surprised by your reports about Jacksonville.  Others have stated that the network in Jacksonville has been excellent.  So, maybe your experience is an exception, not the assertion.  Pun intended.

 

AJ

It has gotten congested in the last 6-8 months.  Sprint's lack of B41 is making things worse.  They've added LTE Plus to many sites, but only those sites that have already been upgraded to B41, which already didn't necessarily need the capacity.  What needs the capacity are the sites that consistently pull sub-1mbps speeds where trying to load a movie trailer or taking 5+ minutes to download Google Maps becomes a hassle.

 

And from RootMetric's perspective, Sprint's gotten worse in Jacksonville.

Jacksonville 2H results - 94.4 Score

Jacksonville 1H results - 97.2 Score

 

Sprint has slowed down since the last round of testing, and in my area, it is definitely noticeable.  Densification is actually the solution.  Sprint just needs to get it rolling already.  I'm not seeing any local permits for Sprint yet, only AT&T/T-Mobile.

[Houston_Texas]

Actually, I turned mine off. If I need to turn it on for any reason, it's a dialer code away.

 

But so far, I am impressed with my LTE coverage and the best part, VoLTE. Slowest speeds I've gotten in my area is 15mbps.

Yea, VoLTE works flawlessly.

 

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[nexgencpu]

It has gotten congested in the last 6-8 months.  Sprint's lack of B41 is making things worse.  They've added LTE Plus to many sites, but only those sites that have already been upgraded to B41, which already didn't necessarily need the capacity.

Did they shutdown Wimax in Jacksonville? How did they get the second carriers online on all B41 sites?

[utiz4321]

So, in WiMAX markets sprint is unable to deploy more than one b41 carrier?

 

 

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[Ascertion]

Did they shutdown Wimax in Jacksonville? How did they get the second carriers online on all B41 sites?

Not entirely sure.  Sprint has a lot of Wimax sites still running (or at least have Wimax equipment on them.)  These sites actually would make for a great B41 site, as they're located in perfect spots.  The issue is there's no B41 around them.  Maybe they're wanting to swap out the equipment with the same permit when they remove the old Wimax equipment??  Anyways, I still have 3 family members on my old ED 1500 plan, so I'm going to monitor Sprint's progress as it goes on and if Sprint gets their upgrades going, I'll probably jump back over.

[nexgencpu]

So, in WiMAX markets sprint is unable to deploy more than one b41 carrier?

 

 

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Sprint has been decommissioning Wimax in multiple markets, and from my understanding those markets were able to deploy some second carrier. 

 

But once the court injunction was put into place that stopped all Wimax shutdown, and in essence stopped the second carriers deployment to a halt in many markets. (NYC being the absolute worse case scenario)

 

Wimax continues to occupy an insane amount of spectrum.

[WiWavelength]

Yea, VoLTE works flawlessly.

 

No, VoLTE does not.  That may be your experience.  But many others with different locations or different providers or in different markets cannot say the same.  So, do not make universal declarations.

 

AJ

[luvixuha]

No, VoLTE does not.  That may be your experience.  But many others with different locations or different providers or in different markets cannot say the same.  So, do not make universal declarations.

 

AJ

I've had no issues with VoLTE.

 

Sprint has been decommissioning Wimax in multiple markets, and from my understanding those markets were able to deploy some second carrier. 

 

But once the court injunction was put into place that stopped all Wimax shutdown, and in essence stopped the second carriers deployment to a halt in many markets. (NYC being the absolute worse case scenario)

 

Wimax continues to occupy an insane amount of spectrum.

Luckily Sprint has reached a settlement and is going to be offering LTE to all those schools and libraries. They should be able to decommission WiMax soon.

[WiWavelength]

I've had no issues with VoLTE.

 

And that is a legitimate observation.  But do you make/receive many VoLTE calls?  Do you travel to other markets -- especially rural areas?  Have you noticed reports that VZW users have disabled VoLTE or have even been instructed to disable VoLTE?

 

AJ

[JossMan]

I've had no issues with VoLTE.

 

Come to Northeast Tennessee and try AT&T's VoLTE and see if you don't have issues. One of the main reasons why I came back to Sprint, I rather have CDMA 1x (HD voice when possible) than have to deal with dropped calls constantly.  

 

Like AJ mentioned, different opinions from different observations regarding VoLTE.  

[Terrell352]

Come to Northeast Tennessee and try AT&T's VoLTE and see if you don't have issues. One of the main reasons why I came back to Sprint, I rather have CDMA 1x (HD voice when possible) than have to deal with dropped calls constantly.

 

Like AJ mentioned, different opinions from different observations regarding VoLTE.

I believe him. Florida is a very strong state when it comes to voice on all carriers.

 

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[Ascertion]

I believe him. Florida is a very strong state when it comes to voice on all carriers.

 

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No mountains and everything is flat. Perfect conditions for wireless.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5X

[JossMan]

I believe him. Florida is a very strong state when it comes to voice on all carriers.

 

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Florida does not speak for the rest of the nation...sorry. 

[Terrell352]

Florida does not speak for the rest of the nation...sorry. 

I wasn't talking about the rest of the nation or I would not have mentioned Fl. What made you think that?