Network Vision/LTE - Colorado Market (Denver/Colo Springs/Fort Collins/Pueblo/Grand Jct)

[coloradorockymountain32]

No they didnt yet sprint is suppose to be going to the church to work on Lte this week i guess that is the last i have heard!

[TheShark]

Hi folks! I've been lurking for a bit on this thread but figured I should go ahead and sign up. The info I'll add to the mix is that it appears Sprint is working on fiber optic builds to their cell sites along the front range. That's going to take time (most of the summer I'm guessing) but once it's done it should really help the performance of the system. If you know of local Sprint towers in your area that you're tracking you should look them up on this map and see if there is anything going to it. Make sure 'Fiber - Under Construction' layer is selected.

http://www.zayo.com/interactive-network-map

[Craig]

Very nice! Thanks for the link. I can trace some of the Under Construction lines straight to towers near me. Awesome! Great to know that there is some serious work going on. Hopefully once they finish the fiber lay, it will be a fast activation of NV 3G and LTE. I gotta think that they are going to try and have most of the towers fitted with NV panels and equipment so as soon as the fiber is run, they can test and flip the switch.

 

Edit: Looks like a large part of downtown Denver is already sporting some lit fiber. That's a good sign for sure!

[TheShark]

Very nice! Thanks for the link. I can trace some of the Under Construction lines straight to towers near me. Awesome! Great to know that there is some serious work going on. Hopefully once they finish the fiber lay, it will be a fast activation of NV 3G and LTE. I gotta think that they are going to try and have most of the towers fitted with NV panels and equipment so as soon as the fiber is run, they can test and flip the switch.

 

I'm not privy to any inside information, but I would hope that they would proceed in parallel with the NV upgrades and the fiber build. It's different contractors and I would think there would be few if any dependencies between them. My contract isn't up till January so I'm a ways away from getting an LTE phone. Hopefully the fiber installs will speed 3G before then. I strongly suspect a lot of the towers around here have pretty sad backhaul currently.

[Craig]

I've noticed some increases in 3G speeds around town over the last 6-9 months. Some places that were unusable previously (DIA for example) have had a marked improvement in speeds. This tells me that even some simple backhaul improvements on legacy 3G are already paying dividends.

[tritron]

I wonder if the city and county of Denver fiber cut was related to that fiber work for sprint towers

[tritron]

I also see eHRPD as my network type downtown denver. I hope that means LTE soon

[Craig]

What fiber cut are you referring to?

 

Also, eHRPD has been turned on over the CO market since Nov. Just my WAG, but I say we'll have a few LoDo LTE towers active by end of summer and a handful of suburbs as well.

[narf]

Yup, eHRPD is almost everywhere in Denver and northern Suburbs, and 3G data speeds have been improving. As long as I can get 2 bars or better I'm getting 1 to 1.5 Mb download speeds. Hopefully your guesses about LTE will come true.

[tritron]

the comcast fiber was cut last friday leaving city network unavaiable in some locations.

I had read that eHRPD can be installed as software update and no LTE upgrades are installed. Also eHRPD should allow talking and surfing at the same time.

[drir]

the comcast fiber was cut last friday leaving city network unavaiable in some locations.

I had read that eHRPD can be installed as software update and no LTE upgrades are installed. Also eHRPD should allow talking and surfing at the same time.

 

eHRPD does not enable talking and surfing at the same time. That requires a phone that is SVDO or SVLTE capable.

 

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2

 

 

[coloradorockymountain32]

I just got off the phone with a sprint rep and he told me that co springs colorado will be getting Lte in the next 90 days with 43 towers of 800 megahertz im so ready for this update! Its about time that we get this update!!

[tritron]

In about 60 days nextel network will be shutdown so sprint can run back haul and install new equipment in 30 days ?

I hope sprint will install 1900/800 lte or our phones will not work with 800 lte and knowing sprint they will not send us new phones with 800 mhz lte and none of the current phones have 800 mhz lte

[philibuster]

I just got off the phone with a sprint rep and he told me that co springs colorado will be getting Lte in the next 90 days with 43 towers of 800 megahertz im so ready for this update! Its about time that we get this update!!

 

I'll believe this when I see it.

[S4GRU]

I just got off the phone with a sprint rep and he told me that co springs colorado will be getting Lte in the next 90 days with 43 towers of 800 megahertz im so ready for this update! Its about time that we get this update!!

 

Sprint reps can see a tool where they can look at sites and it will tell them which ones are slated to get 3G 800, 3G 1900, 4G 800 and 4G 1900 upgrades for the next 3 months. To me it sounds like they saw legitimate info and reported it to you. So that's probably legit.

 

However, whether Sprint and their Contractors will hit those dates is another thing entirely. That being said, Samsung is making an aggressive push to get all their remaining markets under way before Summer. So it's coming either way.

 

Robert via Nexus 7 with Tapatalk HD

[narf]

I thought 800 mHz was a long term plan that was at least a year away. They won't even have the 800 mHz iden shutdown until June 30. Do they even have any phones that handle 800 mHz LTE? I think my Galaxy III is 1900 LTE only.

[Mobilesolutions]

I thought 800 mHz was a long term plan that was at least a year away. They won't even have the 800 mHz iden shutdown until June 30. Do they even have any phones that handle 800 mHz LTE? I think my Galaxy III is 1900 LTE only.

 

I'm thinking we COULD see some 800 MHZ Lte in late Q4 of this year, and i hope we have phones out that will support that within the next 2-3 months.

[Dkoellerwx]

I thought 800 mHz was a long term plan that was at least a year away. They won't even have the 800 mHz iden shutdown until June 30. Do they even have any phones that handle 800 mHz LTE? I think my Galaxy III is 1900 LTE only.

 

800 1x. Not LTE. There are markets where 800 SMR is being used for 1x where there is enough spectrum available. Once the iDen shutdown occurs, they will be able to turn on 800 SMR wherever the equipment has been installed and calibrated.

 

The 800 LTE FIT should be installed soon, with plans for 800 LTE to being installs in the Chicago and South Bend markets in the next three months or so.

 

There are currently no phones that support 800 LTE, and we likely won't see any until Q3 or Q4 of this year.

[S4GRU]

I thought 800 mHz was a long term plan that was at least a year away. They won't even have the 800 mHz iden shutdown until June 30. Do they even have any phones that handle 800 mHz LTE? I think my Galaxy III is 1900 LTE only.

When we say 800, it can mean CDMA 800 and/or LTE 800. CDMA 800 has been being deployed for over 6 months. A dozen markets already have some CDMA 800 service live. It will be deployed even more widespread after iDEN shutdown.

 

LTE 800 has only been deployed in FIT areas so far. But starting this summer LTE 800 will start deploying in earnest. LTE 800 cannot go live until after iDEN shuts down at the end of June.

 

So it's closer than many realize. Sprint says they will start selling LTE 800 devices before the end of the 3rd quarter. So probably in September. CDMA 800 has been included in most Sprint devices the past two years.

 

Robert via Nexus 7 with Tapatalk HD

[narf]

When we say 800, it can mean CDMA 800 and/or LTE 800. CDMA 800 has been being deployed for over 6 months. A dozen markets already have some CDMA 800 service live. It will be deployed even more widespread after iDEN shutdown.

 

LTE 800 has only been deployed in FIT areas so far. But starting this summer LTE 800 will start deploying in earnest. LTE 800 cannot go live until after iDEN shuts down at the end of June.

 

So it's closer than many realize. Sprint says they will start selling LTE 800 devices before the end of the 3rd quarter. So probably in September. CDMA 800 has been included in most Sprint devices the past two years.

 

Robert via Nexus 7 with Tapatalk HD

Thanks for the clarification. When I spoke of 800, I was speaking of 800 LTE, not CDMA. The roadmaps I read indicated that 800 LTE was the very last piece to be put in place and to expect it sometime in 2014 at the earliest. You seem to have information that it is being moved on earlier than originally planned.

[S4GRU]

Thanks for the clarification. When I spoke of 800, I was speaking of 800 LTE, not CDMA. The roadmaps I read indicated that 800 LTE was the very last piece to be put in place and to expect it sometime in 2014 at the earliest. You seem to have information that it is being moved on earlier than originally planned.

 

It will not be widespread until 2014. But it will be available in limited pockets in several markets in 2013. And we should have a few devices on sale that support it in the 4th Quarter.

 

Robert via Nexus 7 with Tapatalk HD

[TheShark]

Did anybody else see this? I know this mainly affects western Kansas but it hits Colorado some too. Are they just throwing in the towel in these areas? Or is it part of the iDen turndown? Or did these towers get sold to somebody else? It seems a little disconcerting for that much of Sprint's network to be just going away, even if it is sparsely populated.

 

http://support.sprint.com/support/article/Learn_more_about_network_changes_coming_to_portions_of_Kansas_and_Oklahoma/case-gz982789-20111212-190208/?ECID=vanity:coveragechange

[Craig]

That's interesting. First I heard anything about that coverage change. In all reality, it won't affect me in any capacity as I don't spend any time in that area. For those customers that reside in that area, it could be a deal breaker, however. It would be interesting to hear the reasoning/cause behind this rather large native network service dismissal.

[S4GRU]

Did anybody else see this? I know this mainly affects western Kansas but it hits Colorado some too. Are they just throwing in the towel in these areas? Or is it part of the iDen turndown? Or did these towers get sold to somebody else? It seems a little disconcerting for that much of Sprint's network to be just going away, even if it is sparsely populated.

 

http://support.sprint.com/support/article/Learn_more_about_network_changes_coming_to_portions_of_Kansas_and_Oklahoma/case-gz982789-20111212-190208/?ECID=vanity:coveragechange

 

This has been discussed intensively around other threads here. This was never coverage by Sprint but coverage by partners. And they have decided not to renew with Sprint to provide native coverage . It will still be available for Sprint roaming though. No net effect for Sprint customers unless you lived in the affected areas.

 

Robert via Samsung Note II via Tapatalk

 

 

[TheShark]

This has been discussed intensively around other threads here. This was never coverage by Sprint but coverage by partners. And they have decided not to renew with Sprint to provide native coverage . It will still be available for Sprint roaming though. No net effect for Sprint customers unless you lived in the affected areas.

 

Robert via Samsung Note II via Tapatalk

 

Cool, thanks for the info. I do drive I-70 headed east a fair amount but my plan has (in theory) unlimited roaming. It sounds like things will work pretty much the same for me when I'm out that way, just the carrier display will change.