Official Tmobile-Sprint merger discussion thread

[nexgencpu]

40 minutes ago, bigsnake49 said:

It seems that AT&T will not contest this merger:

https://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/at-t-s-donovan-t-mobile-sprint-combo-we-won-t-contest-it

Why anyone would think they would is rediculous considering what they are attempting.

[Paynefanbro]

1 hour ago, bigsnake49 said:

It seems that AT&T will not contest this merger:

https://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/at-t-s-donovan-t-mobile-sprint-combo-we-won-t-contest-it

Of course not. They are trying to get a mega-merger of their own approved. It would be hilariously hypocritical if they were openly against Sprint and T-Mobile merging.

[bigsnake49]

Verizon also does not care about the merger.

[derrph]

25 minutes ago, bigsnake49 said:

Verizon also does not care about the merger.

I think that's because when it comes to 5G everyone is on their own path and are trying to accomplish what they set out to do with 5G and are looking way past just mobile. It's going to be a money maker since it can be connected to so many more things than just tablets and phones. Sprint and Tmo are more concerned with mobile which is not a area of rush for the Top 2.

[bigsnake49]

1 hour ago, derrph said:

I think that's because when it comes to 5G everyone is on their own path and are trying to accomplish what they set out to do with 5G and are looking way past just mobile. It's going to be a money maker since it can be connected to so many more things than just tablets and phones. Sprint and Tmo are more concerned with mobile which is not a area of rush for the Top 2.

I wonder how many more people they think they can sign up beyond mobile. I know that everybody things there are a lot of money to be made in IoT but that is a totally unproven business case. From my previous forays in this area I can tell you that it is not a money maker because there is not a lot of data being passed back and forth. Maybe in 20-30 years when everybody is driving self driving cars and data needs to be exchanged between cars and the Traffic Controller there might be some money to be made but meanwhile, no.

[bigsnake49]

The reason that neither Verizon nor AT&T are worried about this merger is that that even after the merger Verizon mostly and A&T to some degree are going to have twice as many postpaid subscribers as the New T-Mobile. Verizon's markings are still going to be fat and so will AT&T's. It will take a year to get the merger approved then about three years to fully integrate the two companies. Meanwhile the two behemoths will do everything in their power to poach postpaid subs from the new T-Mobile.it is imperative that the resulting company execute on all cylinders. from network integration and expansion to marketing to billing system integration.

[Paynefanbro]

2 hours ago, derrph said:

I think that's because when it comes to 5G everyone is on their own path and are trying to accomplish what they set out to do with 5G and are looking way past just mobile. It's going to be a money maker since it can be connected to so many more things than just tablets and phones. Sprint and Tmo are more concerned with mobile which is not a area of rush for the Top 2.

There is nothing stopping the combined company from tackling both IoT and mobile though.

[danlodish345]

6 hours ago, bigsnake49 said:

The reason that neither Verizon nor AT&T are worried about this merger is that that even after the merger Verizon mostly and A&T to some degree are going to have twice as many postpaid subscribers as the New T-Mobile. Verizon's markings are still going to be fat and so will AT&T's. It will take a year to get the merger approved then about three years to fully integrate the two companies. Meanwhile the two behemoths will do everything in their power to poach postpaid subs from the new T-Mobile.it is imperative that the resulting company execute on all cylinders. from network integration and expansion to marketing to billing system integration.

I honestly don't see 5th generation Wireless technology replacing cable or Fiber Optic connections for a very long time. The technology is still in its infancy and I don't believe that anytime soon 5G will take away many if any subscribers from the current wire Technologies

[Thomas L.]

Of course neither AT&T nor Verizon are contesting this because they know it will decrease competition in the market which has put so much pressure on their margins and networks both. 

[utiz4321]

1 hour ago, Thomas L. said:

Of course neither AT&T nor Verizon are contesting this because they know it will decrease competition in the market which has put so much pressure on their margins and networks both. 

Maybe, maybe not. Decreased competition doesnt always lead to higher margins for all players. 

[RedSpark]

16 hours ago, Paynefanbro said:

There is nothing stopping the combined company from tackling both IoT and mobile though.

Speaking of IoT: http://www.sprint.com/iotfactory

Release: http://newsroom.sprint.com/sprint-launches-groundbreaking-iot-factory-to-make-everyday-business-easier.htm

 

[belusnecropolis]

5 hours ago, RedSpark said:

Speaking of IoT: http://www.sprint.com/iotfactory

Release: http://newsroom.sprint.com/sprint-launches-groundbreaking-iot-factory-to-make-everyday-business-easier.htm

 

I am kind of excited to check this out when I can sit down and explore. This seems along the lines of one of those innovation projects Sprint often undertakes but does not advert or open source. Maybe change is in the air.

[RedSpark]

31 minutes ago, belusnecropolis said:

I am kind of excited to check this out when I can sit down and explore. This seems along the lines of one of those innovation projects Sprint often undertakes but does not advert or open source. Maybe change is in the air.

There’s a lot of neat stuff there!

[bigsnake49]

The former founder of Boost calls for divestitures from the combined company but not of spectrum but of the prepaid brand(s). I'd be OK with that.

https://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/boost-founder-angles-for-divestitures-from-sprint-t-mobile-merger

Edited May 22, 2018 by bigsnake49

[iansltx]

57 minutes ago, bigsnake49 said:

The former founder of Boost calls for divestitures from the combined company but not of spectrum but of the prepaid brand(s). I'd be OK with that.

https://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/boost-founder-angles-for-divestitures-from-sprint-t-mobile-merger

Feels kinda silly. This really reads like "Boost founder wants to buy back his company at a discount, which would conveniently happen if Sprint were forced to divest".

What *would* be useful as a merger condition is a lock on all MVNO pricing, such that e.g. Ting could keep getting the deal they do right now on each of Sprint and T-Mo once the two merge, valid for, say, five years. Same with Google Fi.

[vryan44]

On 5/18/2018 at 12:21 AM, danlodish345 said:

I honestly don't see 5th generation Wireless technology replacing cable or Fiber Optic connections for a very long time. The technology is still in its infancy and I don't believe that anytime soon 5G will take away many if any subscribers from the current wire Technologies

not in urban areas, but for rural, yes it will scoop dial up and dsl customers right up, not to mention satellite internet customers 

[danlodish345]

12 minutes ago, vryan44 said:

not in urban areas, but for rural, yes it will scoop dial up and dsl customers right up, not to mention satellite internet customers 

 Oh yeah I do not disagree with you there. Satellite Internet is very outdated. As is Dial and DSL.  So I’m interested to see if they actually do rural deployment of 5g

[bigsnake49]

Even after merging, the new T-Mobile will face an uphill battle. First, AT&T because of FirstNet will have to touch everyone of their sites and so they will probably deploy all their spectrum on their sites. So I presume they will deploy CA, 4x4 MIMO and 256QAM on all their sites. They will also deploy new sites for First Net so they will add their bands on all the new sites. Verizon will have real competition on their hands. New T-Mobile better not bring a knife to a gunfight.

[bigsnake49]

As a side effect of the proposed merger, FreedomPop is creating the Unreal MVNO taking advantage of the regulatory environment created by the mergers in extracting pricing concessions. They clame to offer $15/mo unlimited service that is competitive with post paid offers by the two carriers. I am suspicious so I signed up for their beta program :).

https://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/freedompop-s-unreal-mvno-uses-sprint-t-mobile-merger-to-offer-15-unlimited-service

Edited May 24, 2018 by bigsnake49

[derrph]

https://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/sprint-cto-explains-how-it-plans-to-win-5g-race

I just find it kinda strange that when Sprint has any network based press releases that they don't really mention too much about the merger and how it will "help." Whereas T-Mobile just about every press release there is a spill about how great the merger is going to be and what it will accomplish. I would have assumed that Sprint would be hitting the pavement just as hard about the merger. It's like Sprint is keeping somewhat of a distance and speaks on the merger when asked and is not putting all there eggs in one basket again.
 

[bigsnake49]

45 minutes ago, derrph said:

https://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/sprint-cto-explains-how-it-plans-to-win-5g-race

I just find it kinda strange that when Sprint has any network based press releases that they don't really mention too much about the merger and how it will "help." Whereas T-Mobile just about every press release there is a spill about how great the merger is going to be and what it will accomplish. I would have assumed that Sprint would be hitting the pavement just as hard about the merger. It's like Sprint is keeping somewhat of a distance and speaks on the merger when asked and is not putting all there eggs in one basket again.
 

They're still bragging about 2.5 GHz. Although in that article he does say that 5G will be better with T-Mobile in that they can leverage low, mid and higher bands for an ubiquitous 5G experience.

[derrph]

4 minutes ago, bigsnake49 said:

They're still bragging about 2.5 GHz. Although in that article he does say that 5G will be better with T-Mobile in that they can leverage low, mid and higher bands for an ubiquitous 5G experience.

I hate when they brag about their 2.5. 

[danlodish345]

1 hour ago, derrph said:

I hate when they brag about their 2.5. 

i hate the bragging and mouth running......they just need to put their money where their mouth is....

[iansltx]

On 5/23/2018 at 2:50 AM, danlodish345 said:

 Oh yeah I do not disagree with you there. Satellite Internet is very outdated. As is Dial and DSL.  So I’m interested to see if they actually do rural deployment of 5g

Satellite is less outdated than you think. ViaSat has 100 Mbps plans, albeit with a 150 GB soft cap. 50 Mbps is available for a relatively reasonable price, depending on area. Of course, there's still the speed-of-light problem.

With that said, 25/3 with a 160GB cap, particularly if it's a soft cap, for like $60/mo,, would be straightforward to sling via 2.5 GHz 5G, and if advertised at all would give Sprint probablh 80% market share in anywhere that can't get cable or fiber. The number of places that can hit those speeds over DSL that can't get cable or fiber is low enough that you don't really have to worry about those folks (basically only rural telephone companies/co-ops do that).

[danlodish345]

1 hour ago, iansltx said:

Satellite is less outdated than you think. ViaSat has 100 Mbps plans, albeit with a 150 GB soft cap. 50 Mbps is available for a relatively reasonable price, depending on area. Of course, there's still the speed-of-light problem.

With that said, 25/3 with a 160GB cap, particularly if it's a soft cap, for like $60/mo,, would be straightforward to sling via 2.5 GHz 5G, and if advertised at all would give Sprint probablh 80% market share in anywhere that can't get cable or fiber. The number of places that can hit those speeds over DSL that can't get cable or fiber is low enough that you don't really have to worry about those folks (basically only rural telephone companies/co-ops do that).

So what your saying is that 5G technology can replace some of this at a reasonable price?