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

[dedub]

I know you live in/near a mainly Clearwire B41 market so perhaps you haven't experienced a market that has mature deployment of Sprint 8T8R equipment. It does make a difference. 

 

 

It was great when clearwire sites got us b41 online quicker, but now it has been holding us back (from full out 8t8r) and that is pretty annoying.

 

I know, 'who needs 8t8r' and/or 'be happy you got any b41'.

 

blah blah blah

 

I'm pretty sure the connection issues with my hotspot are caused by mixed market sprint/clear b41 networks that still are not fully integrated (or if they are, they are still some weird compatibility issues).

[kg4icg]

What I find funny is that people are comparing capex of the other networks to what is sprint doing now, but failed to realize that Sprints you heavy work with network ripping was already done. Now just adding capacity, the others are busy consolidating and upgrading equipment. So if you want to compare. You have to look further back on Sprint. The Capex argument is getting old to, just like the merger rumors that keep popping up.

 

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[IamMrFamous07]

What I find funny is that people are comparing capex of the other networks to what is sprint doing now, but failed to realize that Sprints you heavy work with network ripping was already done. Now just adding capacity, the others are busy consolidating and upgrading equipment. So if you want to compare. You have to look further back on Sprint. The Capex argument is getting old to, just like the merger rumors that keep popping up.

 

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Yasss!!

[runagun]

Mobilitie is doing sprints heavy lifting on network. The recode article thesis was essentially true. I'm not getting excited because God knows how many times I was disappointed with sprint. But with all the permit requests I've been reading using Google search. I'm really optimistic.

[Arysyn]

Yeah I agree. Sprint has roughly 40% the number of customers Verizon has but is spending less than 20% year over year what Verizon is spending on their network. Verizon is deploying small cells too so I don't buy the whole we don't need to spend alot of money bs for a second. They won't need to spend alot of money once equipment is in place on most of there towers but right now that capex needs to rise big time. I think they will spend more during the summer.

I've mentioned this before, but I still strongly think the problem going on with Sprint is not in the lack of money being reported by some, but that Sprint is waiting to spend the money they could be using to densify and other network upgrades, waiting to spend it on the merger instead.

 

This is what Masayoshi Son really wants, and he'd rather wait on it, even if it means losing customers in the meantime in areas where densification is very strongly needed, all on the hopes this merger will happen. Of course, I don't believe it will and I think Sprint would be better off densifying, but we'll see...

[NYC126]

What I find funny is that people are comparing capex of the other networks to what is sprint doing now, but failed to realize that Sprints you heavy work with network ripping was already done. Now just adding capacity, the others are busy consolidating and upgrading equipment. So if you want to compare. You have to look further back on Sprint. The Capex argument is getting old to, just like the merger rumors that keep popping up.

 

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The problem with your comment is, the Sprint network is not dense like the others. A network that wants to rely on a high band 2.5hgz needs roll more macros and small cells.

 

 

Where is

[Terrell352]

What I find funny is that people are comparing capex of the other networks to what is sprint doing now, but failed to realize that Sprints you heavy work with network ripping was already done. Now just adding capacity, the others are busy consolidating and upgrading equipment. So if you want to compare. You have to look further back on Sprint. The Capex argument is getting old to, just like the merger rumors that keep popping up.

 

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If it's like that then getting 8t8r equipment on most towers should be no problem but its taking way longer than network vision.

 

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[greenbastard]

What I find funny is that people are comparing capex of the other networks to what is sprint doing now, but failed to realize that Sprints you heavy work with network ripping was already done. Now just adding capacity, the others are busy consolidating and upgrading equipment. So if you want to compare. You have to look further back on Sprint. The Capex argument is getting old to, just like the merger rumors that keep popping up.

 

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You can apologize for Sprint all you want, but even you know they still have a lot of work to do. And Sprint lowering their spending is not good, especially in a wireless industry that moves so fast and is aggressive at touting peak speeds. Just look at Open Signal's latest results.

 

 

Sprint should definitely be spending more in order to catch up. Their overall native footprint is also falling behind as T-Mobile grows. You can argue that growing the network into new markets is a waste of money, but this is an industry based on perception and T-Mobile is winning it big.

[JonnygATL]

You can apologize for Sprint all you want, but even you know they still have a lot of work to do. And Sprint lowering their spending is not good, especially in a wireless industry that moves so fast and is aggressive at touting peak speeds. Just look at Open Signal's latest results.

Sprint should definitely be spending more in order to catch up. Their overall native footprint is also falling behind as T-Mobile grows. You can argue that growing the network into new markets is a waste of money, but this is an industry based on perception and T-Mobile is winning it big.

I read that report earlier today and was surprised and disappointed to learn of Sprint's (non) performance. Granted, 7 Mbps is entirely usable but with Sprint's massive spectrum holdings and deployment I'd love to see them performing at least at parity with the other guys (maybe not in terms of coverage/ Percent availability but at least in terms of speed).

I wonder if Sprint really is this far behind or if something in their testing methodology could account for this..For example, the proportion of Open Signal users on each network or some other variable. Thoughts?

[derrph]

I read that report earlier today and was surprised and disappointed to learn of Sprint's (non) performance. Granted, 7 Mbps is entirely usable but with Sprint's massive spectrum holdings and deployment I'd love to see them performing at least at parity with the other guys (maybe not in terms of coverage/ Percent availability but at least in terms of speed).

I wonder if Sprint really is this far behind or if something in their testing methodology could account for this..For example, the proportion of Open Signal users on each network or some other variable. Thoughts?

I hope they aren't that behind. The user sample size was pretty small. But too, I want to know the distribution of users per each carrier and the places tested. Was it all in city or a combination of both city and rural?

 

 

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[tybo31316]

I read that report earlier today and was surprised and disappointed to learn of Sprint's (non) performance. Granted, 7 Mbps is entirely usable but with Sprint's massive spectrum holdings and deployment I'd love to see them performing at least at parity with the other guys (maybe not in terms of coverage/ Percent availability but at least in terms of speed).

I wonder if Sprint really is this far behind or if something in their testing methodology could account for this..For example, the proportion of Open Signal users on each network or some other variable. Thoughts?

From my experience having access to 3 of the 4 national carriers (doesn't have Verizon). Sprint is definitely dead last in my market in Speed and Reliability. I've found that AT&T and TMobile is both faster and stays connected to LTE much longer than Sprint. We have band 41 in my market and 90% of the equipment is old Clearwire gear. I'm sure if Sprint installed 8t8r gear to more sites we'd have a faster speeds but LTE would still drop off faster than others. Also TMobile is rolling out band 12 at a very rapid pace.

[JustinRP37]

You can apologize for Sprint all you want, but even you know they still have a lot of work to do. And Sprint lowering their spending is not good, especially in a wireless industry that moves so fast and is aggressive at touting peak speeds. Just look at Open Signal's latest results.

 

 

Sprint should definitely be spending more in order to catch up. Their overall native footprint is also falling behind as T-Mobile grows. You can argue that growing the network into new markets is a waste of money, but this is an industry based on perception and T-Mobile is winning it big.

 

This article has been giving me a lot of pause today. It really shows T-Mobile is still pouring it on, while Sprint is once again beginning its decline. I have both T-Mobile and Sprint and in Manhattan, Sprint is definitely better than T-Mobile, but T-Mobile does win in some areas. Outside Manhattan, T-Mobile's data is not only more consistent in the Bronx and lower Westchester, but there are no gaps in coverage. Sprint's LTE speeds are terrible from about Botanical Garden on Metro North to about Fleetwood. T-Mobile though has no gaps. Recently I have seen Sprint speeds slow down in areas where it used to be highly reliable. I was hoping it was because of upgrades, but it has been going on for awhile now. To me, it really does look like Sprint is looking for a merger. I hope not, but we shall see. I love the company and have been with them for awhile, but starve the network and it will suffer and fall behind once again. 

[kg4icg]

1. I'm not a sprint apologist

2. Open signal app sucks, it crashes like you wouldn't believe. It keeps people on band 25 for some reason on sprint instead of letting the phone switch bands like its suppose to for which I guess why the app crashes.

3. Every one has there problems, mine has been few and far between. I'm sitting here listening to people complain about the others here at Dulles, do I give a damn? No, we all choose what we want.

 

I get tired of people about we need to merge with T-Mobile. Need to consolidate , need to get rid of band 41, need to be like T-Mobile, guess what? If you are so unhappy, just leave. Stop complaining and ranting and just leave.

 

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[laqn1283]

It looks like open signal only measure data no call. If call is included T-Mobile would have been dead last. I don't really care what people say. Call is just as important as data.

[greenbastard]

1. I'm not a sprint apologist

If so, then why do you follow up a national report with this excuse...

2. Open signal app sucks, it crashes like you wouldn't believe. It keeps people on band 25 for some reason on sprint instead of letting the phone switch bands like its suppose to for which I guess why the app crashes.

 

Mine is fine. I've never had it crash.

 

Also apps without root access cannot control the LTE band you're on. Only app capable of this is MSG with root access. So you're reaching pretty far for an excuse, which is what an apologist would do. Why not accept the report for what it is?

I get tired of people about we need to merge with T-Mobile.

And back to point #1. Outside of stakeholders who work for Sprint or own stock, no one should be using the word "We" when talking about Sprint.

 

I get that criticisms of Sprint come off as trollish, but at the end of the day I think everyone here is rooting for a successful independent Sprint. Unfortunately, many don't see that as a possibility with the way Marcelo has operated the company compared to the competition. The writing is on the wall and it looks like they've put up a strategic white flag...Now it's Trump administration's move.

 

Something will change. What exactly changes remains to be seen. My gut says Marcelo/Son will make a move for T-Mobile. Whether that's a good thing or not for consumers is an entirely different subject.

[kg4icg]

Here is something to dwell on even greenbastard never saw coming.

http://www.androidheadlines.com/2017/02/major-us-carrier-to-receive-freedompops-licensed-tech.html

 

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[nexgencpu]

Its funny that everybody is stuck on these open signal results. But look at one of their quotes about Sprint..

 

"In the last six months, all four operators saw significant improvements in their 4G availability scores. Sprint, however, experienced the biggest boost of nearly 7 percentage points. Sprint is still in last place in our availability rankings, but it's definitely improving quickly."

[bigsnake49]

Here is something to dwell on even greenbastard never saw coming.

http://www.androidheadlines.com/2017/02/major-us-carrier-to-receive-freedompops-licensed-tech.html

 

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I am betting on AT&T teaming up with FreedomPop

[utiz4321]

The thing I don't understand is sprint has a ton of spectrum off air and it is relatively cheap to put it on air. Three carrier abrogation is a matter of software, yet it isn't ubiquitous across sprint's b41 network. Why not light up as many carriers of b41 as possible and expand 3 carrier aggregation everywhere they can. This seems to be a cheap way to enhance network performance, unless I am missing something?

 

 

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[Dkoellerwx]

The thing I don't understand is sprint has a ton of spectrum off air and it is relatively cheap to put it on air. Three carrier abrogation is a matter of software, yet it isn't ubiquitous across sprint's b41 network. Why not light up as many carriers of b41 as possible and expand 3 carrier aggregation everywhere they can. This seems to be a cheap way to enhance network performance, unless I am missing something?

 

 

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Just about every Sprint B41 site in Samsung and Ericsson/Nokia markets has 3 carriers. It is the ALU/Nokia markets that still seem to be experiencing a hold up. There are a couple sites with 3 carriers on air in D.C. which is an ALU/Nokia market, but that's all that has been reported so far. There seems to be an issue with getting the equipment/software ready (though I don't have direct info about the problem).

[RAvirani]

Yes, but have you seen it in action? I'm just not buying the story of HPUE devices enabling EBS/BRS to reach the same areas PCS LTE. Call me a skeptic, but I'm going to approach HPUE with very little fanfare. We've seen similar claims on this board in the past about MIMO, beam forming, etc. Physics gets in the way and stuff never works as expected in real world scenarios. Based on history, I would hold off on your excitement until we see what we actually get with HPUE.

HPUE is a power class change from 3 to 2. It allows the power levels of UEs to be increased from 23dBm to 26dBm. A 3dBm increase in power levels should translate to a 19% increase in outdoor cell radius. This, of course, is theoretical and could only ever happen in a lab, but even if HPUE only increases B41 range by 10%, that would still be huge. I'm sure the effect will be positive a good deal, maybe even a great deal if we're lucky.

[RAvirani]

Just received this comment (as I was reading this thread) on an article I added to my flipboard magazine regarding the OpenSignal report. It's funny how peoples' experiences differ...

 

[ingenium]

Just about every Sprint B41 site in Samsung and Ericsson/Nokia markets has 3 carriers. It is the ALU/Nokia markets that still seem to be experiencing a hold up. There are a couple sites with 3 carriers on air in D.C. which is an ALU/Nokia market, but that's all that has been reported so far. There seems to be an issue with getting the equipment/software ready (though I don't have direct info about the problem).

Not SF! Spectrum squatters preventing it. They shifted the earfcns a bit, but they still can't get another carrier on the air. As soon as you're outside of that license (fringe of the market) you see the third carrier.

 

Sent from my Pixel XL

[Dkoellerwx]

Not SF! Spectrum squatters preventing it. They shifted the earfcns a bit, but they still can't get another carrier on the air. As soon as you're outside of that license (fringe of the market) you see the third carrier.

 

Sent from my Pixel XL

 

Hmm, yes I forgot about the bay area. That reminds me that Madison, WI also has spectrum issues. They just got the second carrier on air there in the last month.

[RedSpark]

Just about every Sprint B41 site in Samsung and Ericsson/Nokia markets has 3 carriers. It is the ALU/Nokia markets that still seem to be experiencing a hold up. There are a couple sites with 3 carriers on air in D.C. which is an ALU/Nokia market, but that's all that has been reported so far. There seems to be an issue with getting the equipment/software ready (though I don't have direct info about the problem).

Interested to learn more about this myself as well.