T-Mobile LTE & Network Discussion V2

[dnicekid]

I am sure sprint is trying to come up with a plan to get tmo divest some to charlie. Why should tmo sell cheap to charlie he is the one who needs to use that spectrum thats sitting around.. tmo is the only one he can buy.

[bigsnake49]

Dish in the end really wanted Clearwire and the vast troves of 2.5 GHz spectrum. They want Sprint. I still think that a partnership of Dish/Sprint would be beneficial to both. If only they can learn to play nice with each other. So far it has been a war of leaks !

[bretton88]

Basically DT is hoping someone with deeper pockets will come along and bid for T-Mobile with a better offer. Hence the hope for Comcast.

[Arysyn]

Dish in the end really wanted Clearwire and the vast troves of 2.5 GHz spectrum. They want Sprint. I still think that a partnership of Dish/Sprint would be beneficial to both. If only they can learn to play nice with each other. So far it has been a war of leaks !

Dish definitely wanted Sprint, though I doubt Dish is able to afford a purchase of Sprint away from Softbank now though.

 

DT obviously is thinking big here with its mentions of Comcast and Sprint into the fold with T-Mobile. Problem is, T-Mobile just may not have enough time to wait until a potential administration shift in the U.S. government in 2017. They desperately need more spectrum in many areas, which the 600mhz auction spectrum set aside for them just may not be enough, especially if they don't win much of it.

 

A merger with Dish may not give them access to Sprint's plentiful 2.5 spectrum, but it will give them a lot of AWS-3 spectrum which would double their current spectrum in many area, while providing a helpful boost in many others. Also, it is a merger which ought to be approved by the FCC fairly easily and take much less resources in the effort than it would trying to merge with Sprint.

[NYC126]

Verizon is playing a dangerous game here selling all their wireline business . If there is a union between comcast /tmobile /Sprint it would cripple Verizon plans of video over wireless.

[Arysyn]

Verizon is playing a dangerous game here selling all their wireline business . If there is a union between comcast /tmobile /Sprint it would cripple Verizon plans of video over wireless.

I definitely agree with this.

 

It seems Verizon just wants to focus on wireless and only on that which would directly benefit its wireless business, something I think is all well and good. However, with these mergers around them, it is making for bad timing to Verizon's plans.

[Paynefanbro]

Verizon is playing a dangerous game here selling all their wireline business.

 

I'd pust a "mostly" or "nearly" before that all.

[lbui]

Network-wise, would it have been better for Sprint customers (not so much their shareholders) had Dish acquired Sprint? Is the spectrum that Dish has more valuable that the investment SoftBank can put into Sprint? Sorry if this is in the wrong forum.

[WiWavelength]

Network-wise, would it have been better for Sprint customers (not so much their shareholders) had Dish acquired Sprint? Is the spectrum that Dish has more valuable that the investment SoftBank can put into Sprint? Sorry if this is in the wrong forum.

 

That depends upon which spectrum:  Lower 700 MHz, S Band, PCS/AWS-2 H block, or AWS-3.

 

Had Dish acquired Sprint, then Dish probably would not have participated as vigorously in the AWS-3 auction.  In fact, Dish might not have participated at all.

 

AJ

[Arysyn]

That depends upon which spectrum: Lower 700 MHz, S Band, PCS/AWS-2 H block, or AWS-3.

 

Had Dish acquired Sprint, then Dish probably would not have participated as vigorously in the AWS-3 auction. In fact, Dish might not have participated at all.

 

AJ

I agree with AJ about this.

 

If Dish had purchased Sprint, they would be stuck with paying primarily for densifying the network, rather than purchasing additional spectrum, due to Dish having much more limited finances than Softbank.

 

Also, and this is not an attack on Softbank nor Sprint, but I think Dish would have much more rapidly sped up on the network improvements, due to being more liberal with their finances than Softbank, which seems more conservative on spending. While Softbank obviously cares about Sprint and Sprint's reputation which obviously needs much improvement on, I think Dish would have been more in a rush to improve Sprint faster than Softbank is. Although I'm not criticizing Softbank's approach, and it very well may be that Softbank's more careful, cautious, and closely constructed financial strategy may be better for Sprint in the long run.

 

However, because I believe Dish is much more quick to deploy their strategy than Softbank is with Sprint, this is a reason why Dish business practices in this regard, make Dish more compatible/suitable with T-Mobile's rapid style of deployment. Again, not bashing Softbank nor Sprint, but Dish seems likely to be a company that would have deployed as much of Sprint's spectrum on as many towers as possible, which while having some advantages over the current Softbank/Sprint, would also have the disadvantages of site density issues, where the deployed 2.5 spectrum is, among other downsides to a more rushed style of deployment.

 

Please don't take this as bashing any of these companies, as I sincerely mean well by this. If there is anything in this wording that I could have done more fairly, then I apologize. I'm under a tremendous amount of stress today since having my aunt continue denying me the help with my disability she's repeatedly promised to me over the years today sending an email taunting me over the fact I can't raise the money for a disability assisted van I much need, especially as I'm getting closer to not being able to walk. I must have tripped over a dozen times yesterday while I was out dealing with the cell phone stuff.

[Arysyn]

Also, sorry for the length of my reply above. I am trying to make an effort on shortening the length of my posts, which admittedly I haven't done well on today, for the reasons I mentioned in that post.

[Fraydog]

Just no on Comcast. No on any of it. No on them buying Sprint. No on them buying T-Mobile (though Legere would be gone, Comcast's culture would expel him quick.) I really think Hottges has no clue about this market.

 

DT had no success here without Angry Johnny at the wheel. That's a fact. If they suddenly want to take the wheel away, then they might he undoing their investment in the first place.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bigsnake49]

While SoftBank has not contributed greatly to Sprint's finances by directly injecting cash, they have allowed Sprint to borrow money at lower rates.

[caspar347]

While SoftBank has not contributed greatly to Sprint's finances by directly injecting cash, they have allowed Sprint to borrow money at lower rates.

And IIRC that was one of the biggest advantages of a Softbank buyout as opposed to a Dish one.

[WiWavelength]

I agree with AJ about this.

 

If Dish had purchased Sprint, they would be stuck with paying primarily for densifying the network, rather than purchasing additional spectrum, due to Dish having much more limited finances than Softbank.

 

No, the reason Dish would not have participated as such in the AWS-3 auction would not have been limited finances.  The reason would have been already plentiful spectrum holdings.

 

Had Dish merged with Sprint, it would have gotten its spectrum prize -- Sprint's huge, 100+ MHz tracts of BRS/EBS.  Dish would not have needed further spectrum.

 

Not to mention, Dish already had its own nationwide 40 MHz of S Band AWS-4, which is 3GPP standardized as band 23 for up to 20 MHz FDD.  That could have been in service on infrastructure and devices by now, matching or exceeding VZW "XLTE" and T-Mobile "wideband" bandwidth in every market.

 

And that does not even touch upon Sprint's longstanding PCS and SMR spectrum, nor upon Dish's unpaired Lower 700 MHz and PCS/AWS-2 H block spectrum.

 

AJ

[Arysyn]

No, the reason Dish would not have participated as such in the AWS-3 auction would not have been limited finances. The reason would have been already plentiful spectrum holdings.

 

Had Dish merged with Sprint, it would have gotten its spectrum prize -- Sprint's huge, 100+ MHz tracts of BRS/EBS. Dish would not have needed further spectrum.

 

Not to mention, Dish already had its own nationwide 40 MHz of S Band AWS-4, which is 3GPP standardized as band 23 for up to 20 MHz FDD. That could have been in service on infrastructure and devices by now, matching or exceeding VZW "XLTE" and T-Mobile "wideband" bandwidth in every market.

 

And that does not even touch upon Sprint's longstanding PCS and SMR spectrum, nor upon Dish's unpaired Lower 700 MHz and PCS/AWS-2 H block spectrum.

 

AJ

Well, that sounds like a very good reason too, likely even the main reason. Then again, perhaps I'm putting too much emphasis on what I've been reading about Dish's financial shape after the auction, which certainly if it is as bad as the articles I've read tend to make it seem, then Dish finances certainly would have been worse after buying Sprint, considering the huge sum of money it would have spent to win Sprint over Softbank.

[Arysyn]

Just no on Comcast. No on any of it. No on them buying Sprint. No on them buying T-Mobile (though Legere would be gone, Comcast's culture would expel him quick.) I really think Hottges has no clue about this market.

 

DT had no success here without Angry Johnny at the wheel. That's a fact. If they suddenly want to take the wheel away, then they might he undoing their investment in the first place.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I definitely don't like the idea of Comcast buying Sprint, or any wireless carrier being merged into Comcast. That would be a very bad thing for any wireless carrier to have happen to them. Certainly neither Marcelo Claure nor Jon Legere would be given any further power within Comcast, so no chance of them being able to improve Comcast as they're trying to do with their companies.

 

However and unfortunately, I can see it happening, if Verizon were to purchase Dish, then either Sprint or T-Mobile likely will be chosen by Comcast to be able to better compete with the new more powerful Satellite television broadcast industry. Also, Time Warner cable could get into this by whoever purchases them, which currently sounds like it'll be Altice.

 

Anyways, in my opinion, I'd like to see Google buy both Sprint and T-Mobile, or have shared owner operator status with Softbank, then buy or somehow bring Dish into their SB Google Dish Sprint/T-Mobile group, though I doubt this is going to happen this way. Finally, seeing as Comcast has been working with Verizon for quite some time, I'd be favorable to seeing them merge, if Comcast is going to merge with a U.S wireless carrier despite my objections to it, leaving T-Mobile to merge with Dish and Softbank keeping Sprint while looking at international partners not one of the big U.S. companies.

[jroepcke51]

No, the reason Dish would not have participated as such in the AWS-3 auction would not have been limited finances. The reason would have been already plentiful spectrum holdings.

 

Had Dish merged with Sprint, it would have gotten its spectrum prize -- Sprint's huge, 100+ MHz tracts of BRS/EBS. Dish would not have needed further spectrum.

 

Not to mention, Dish already had its own nationwide 40 MHz of S Band AWS-4, which is 3GPP standardized as band 23 for up to 20 MHz FDD. That could have been in service on infrastructure and devices by now, matching or exceeding VZW "XLTE" and T-Mobile "wideband" bandwidth in every market.

 

And that does not even touch upon Sprint's longstanding PCS and SMR spectrum, nor upon Dish's unpaired Lower 700 MHz and PCS/AWS-2 H block spectrum.

 

AJ

I am confused. How does one use unpaired spectrum?

[WiWavelength]

I am confused. How does one use unpaired spectrum?

 

The unpaired Lower 700 MHz D/E blocks are 3GPP codified as band 29 for supplemental downlink carrier aggregation.

 

AJ

[jroepcke51]

The unpaired Lower 700 MHz D/E blocks are 3GPP codified as band 29 for supplemental downlink carrier aggregation.

 

AJ

Thank you sir. I got my notification of your when I was googling.

[Arysyn]

If Dish and T-Mobile were to merge, hopefully they'd make use of the unpaired spectrum, along with all of the paired AWS-3 spectrum they have.

[avb]

Also, and this is not an attack on Softbank nor Sprint, but I think Dish would have much more rapidly sped up on the network improvements, due to being more liberal with their finances than Softbank, which seems more conservative on spending. While Softbank obviously cares about Sprint and Sprint's reputation which obviously needs much improvement on, I think Dish would have been more in a rush to improve Sprint faster than Softbank is. Although I'm not criticizing Softbank's approach, and it very well may be that Softbank's more careful, cautious, and closely constructed financial strategy may be better for Sprint in the long run.

 

However, because I believe Dish is much more quick to deploy their strategy than Softbank is with Sprint, this is a reason why Dish business practices in this regard, make Dish more compatible/suitable with T-Mobile's rapid style of deployment. Again, not bashing Softbank nor Sprint, but Dish seems likely to be a company that would have deployed as much of Sprint's spectrum on as many towers as possible, which while having some advantages over the current Softbank/Sprint, would also have the disadvantages of site density issues, where the deployed 2.5 spectrum is, among other downsides to a more rushed style of deployment.

 

 

I agree.  Look how long it took Sprint to start and complete NV 1.0, where as Dish had their spectrum deployed nationwide in such a short, wait, nevermind.  Does Dish have a single tower up?

[S4GRU]

 

 

Does Dish have a single tower up?

Other than their joint ventures with Sprint in Corpus Christi and nTelos in Virginia/West Virginia, I'm not aware of any.

 

Using Nexus 6 on Tapatalk

[clbowens]

Does anybody know if Dish has any buildout requirements for any of the spectrum they own?

[caspar347]

Does anybody know if Dish has any buildout requirements for any of the spectrum they own?

They have requirements for all of their spectrum. IIRC the first deadline is sometime midway through next year.