Official Tmobile-Sprint merger discussion thread

[derrph]

3 hours ago, utiz4321 said:

This exactly. If the merger goes through t-mobile has committed to giving sprint customers the same plans or better ones and both customer bases get a better network. Why would you leave? Seems like a stupid move. 

Yea especially with T-Mobiles network deployment track record. Yes one can say they had help from the failed attempt with AT&T but they have yet to slow down on expanding their network and their customer numbers show each quarter. Yes the network is not the best in every city but from the majority of them, it’s on par with the top 2. The growth of the network and customers over 4 years had been nothing short of amazing. That’s one thing no one can deny. 

[Trip]

T-Mobile's rural deployment leaves something to be desired in many cases.  It's meant to fill the map, not necessarily be competitive with the other carrier in the area.  That's not to say that they can't improve after the merger, but going by the deployment to this point...

- Trip

[RedSpark]

6 hours ago, Dkoellerwx said:

They've continued to upgrade sites that I'm fairly certain probably won't be kept after the merger, so I don't think the possibility is keeping them from network investment. 

How is the site 3G / B41? Is it a Clear site? If that's the case it may be they don't have a way to fix it other than replace it with a full Sprint build. That could definitely hold things up for months.

What I was told by an employee with access to network tools is that the tower has 2.5 GHz and 3G only. The 2.5 GHz is offline and there’s no fallback is to Band 25/26. The tower is at the intersection of 16th St NW and Scott Cir NW. No notes after Mid-May. It seems to have been forgotten about. No pending upgrades in the area.

Also, only one tower in 20814 is pending an upgrade according to the network tools. The Band 25 Site on Suburban Hospital is getting Band 26.

Seems pretty quiet for a “build surge.” Maybe we’ll get more info during the Earnings Call.

[Dkoellerwx]

1 minute ago, RedSpark said:

What I was told by an employee with access to info is that the tower has 2.5 GHz and 3G only. The 2.5 GHz is offline and there’s no fallback is to Band 25/26. The tower is at the intersection of 16th St NW and Scott Cir NW. No notes after Mid-May. It seems to have been forgotten about. No pending upgrades in the area.

Still wondering how a site would have 3G only and then B41 unless it's a Clear co-located site.

There have not been any updates in my area for quite some time either, but we have been seeing quite a bit of movement in other parts of the market. Just depends on how things are prioritized, and I don't think we really have any insight into that right now.

[belusnecropolis]

4 minutes ago, RedSpark said:

 

Seems pretty quiet for a “build surge.” Maybe we’ll get more info during the Earnings Call.

We got an 8t8r in the woods and an s1000 on the old Sprint shack so far this year. Surge denied for this Q here as well.

[RedSpark]

44 minutes ago, belusnecropolis said:

We got an 8t8r in the woods and an s1000 on the old Sprint shack so far this year. Surge denied for this Q here as well.

8T8R in the Woods?

An S1000 at an old radios/sprint shack location?

[RedSpark]

1 hour ago, Dkoellerwx said:

Still wondering how a site would have 3G only and then B41 unless it's a Clear co-located site.

There have not been any updates in my area for quite some time either, but we have been seeing quite a bit of movement in other parts of the market. Just depends on how things are prioritized, and I don't think we really have any insight into that right now.

3G/2.5 GHz is what I was told. Didn’t ask if it was a Clear co-located site.

I was told that according to network tools, our towers in DC are really a hodgepodge. We have some that are 3G only, some that are straight LTE (25/26) and some that are LTE plus. This alone is indicative of limited capex in recent years, but the fact that nothing in the area even shows as pending according to the tool has me further concerned that no substantial upgrades to the Sprint network in DC will actually occur until after the merger is denied, if that’s what winds up happening.... and we could be 6-9 months or more from that.

[Dkoellerwx]

17 minutes ago, RedSpark said:

3G/2.5 GHz is what I was told. Didn’t ask if it was a Clear co-located site.

I was told that according to network tools, our towers in DC are really a hodgepodge. We have some that are 3G only, some that are straight LTE (25/26) and some that are LTE plus. This alone is indicative of limited capex in recent years, but the fact that nothing in the area even shows as pending according to the tool has me further concerned that no substantial upgrades to the Sprint network in DC will actually occur until after the merger is denied, if that’s what winds up happening.... and we could be 6-9 months or more from that.

It just sound bizarre to me. If a site has B41, but perhaps legacy antennas, they should be able to at least do GMO LTE, unless it's a Clear co-location. It's not hard to figure out if it is a Clear location, just post which site it is in the premiere section, we have the maps to figure that out.

[greenbastard]

12 hours ago, nexgencpu said:

I do not like TMobile "features" (binge on, the way they sell devices and prices)

Binge On hasn't been a thing for a while now. It's all T-Mobile One, T-Mobile One 55+ or T-Mobile One Military.

[S4GRU]

2 hours ago, Dkoellerwx said:

Still wondering how a site would have 3G only and then B41 unless it's a Clear co-located site.

There have not been any updates in my area for quite some time either, but we have been seeing quite a bit of movement in other parts of the market. Just depends on how things are prioritized, and I don't think we really have any insight into that right now.

The Sprint sites coming online around Anchorage, Alaska are going live 3G and B41 only.  But these are former Clearwire Expedience sites.  I haven't seen any so far that are not former Clearwire sites.

Robert

[RedSpark]

2 hours ago, Dkoellerwx said:

It just sound bizarre to me. If a site has B41, but perhaps legacy antennas, they should be able to at least do GMO LTE, unless it's a Clear co-location. It's not hard to figure out if it is a Clear location, just post which site it is in the premiere section, we have the maps to figure that out.

Posted in the Washington DC Premier Thread.

[Dkoellerwx]

19 minutes ago, RedSpark said:

Posted in the Washington DC Premier Thread.

Something for you to look at there. 

[RAvirani]

4 hours ago, S4GRU said:

The Sprint sites coming online around Anchorage, Alaska are going live 3G and B41 only.  But these are former Clearwire Expedience sites.  I haven't seen any so far that are not former Clearwire sites.

Robert

Are they adding PCS-capable equipment to these sites for CDMA? If so, why not fire up L1900 as well?

[bretton88]

Because you don't get a better network everywhere. Look at rootmetric WV map are you telling me tmobile gives a shift about where I live and play. Tmobile doesn't care about rural areas how will the merger help it won't it will hurt.

I would think the new company would keep existing relationships with partners like Shentel and USCC intact to mitigate those issues. To say T-Mobile doesn't care about rural areas is false. They did just buy out I-Wireless, who's primary service areas are rural. Like with every company, some rural areas get better concentration than other areas do.

Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk

[S4GRU]

9 hours ago, RAvirani said:

Are they adding PCS-capable equipment to these sites for CDMA? If so, why not fire up L1900 as well?

Good question.  I don't know.  But I believe Sprint has a PCS spectrum agreement with one of the Alaska carriers.

Robert

[RAvirani]

13 minutes ago, S4GRU said:

Good question.  I don't know.  But I believe Sprint has a PCS spectrum agreement with one of the Alaska carriers.

Robert

Yes, their PCS spectrum is leased to GCI. 

Are we seeing any movement in the SMR band in Alaska?

[derrph]

Looks like T-Mobile is full steam ahead with their own network plans for 5G in the event the merger is not approved. 

https://www.t-mobile.com/news/nokia-5g-agreement

[RedSpark]

3 hours ago, derrph said:

Looks like T-Mobile is full steam ahead with their own network plans for 5G in the event the merger is not approved. 

https://www.t-mobile.com/news/nokia-5g-agreement

Hopefully Sprint demonstrates a similar commitment to its own capex during its Earnings Call this week.

However, I think the fact that T-Mobile will be the anchor network and that Sprint’s sites are going to be cherry picked as “save sites” has already factored into Sprint’s capex plans.

I’m concerned we won’t see much until this merger closes... or is rejected outright.

[Thomas L.]

19 minutes ago, RedSpark said:

Hopefully Sprint demonstrates a similar commitment to its own capex during its Earnings Call this week.

However, I think the fact that T-Mobile will be the anchor network and that Sprint’s sites are going to be cherry picked as “save sites” has already factored into Sprint’s capex plans.

I’m concerned we won’t see much until this merger closes... or is rejected outright.

Yeah I can't see Sprint making any big moves to be honest, they haven't shown a huge interest in that kind of improvement. 

[Paynefanbro]

2 hours ago, RedSpark said:

Hopefully Sprint demonstrates a similar commitment to its own capex during its Earnings Call this week.

However, I think the fact that T-Mobile will be the anchor network and that Sprint’s sites are going to be cherry picked as “save sites” has already factored into Sprint’s capex plans.

I’m concerned we won’t see much until this merger closes... or is rejected outright.

Sprint is already spending money on upgrading a ton of sites despite the fact that most of them will be deactivated. I truly believe the merger has not and will not influence their 5G plans right now. It will continue as normal because if the merger doesn't go through, the money spent will have been worth it and if it does go through, the money spent on upgrading those sites will be a drop in the bucket compared to their combined revenue.

[Dkoellerwx]

2 hours ago, RedSpark said:

Hopefully Sprint demonstrates a similar commitment to its own capex during its Earnings Call this week.

However, I think the fact that T-Mobile will be the anchor network and that Sprint’s sites are going to be cherry picked as “save sites” has already factored into Sprint’s capex plans.

I’m concerned we won’t see much until this merger closes... or is rejected outright.

I know in your specific area of your market upgrades have been lagging, but we all have to remember the network is much larger than your particular neighborhood. We have been seeing upgrades moving faster network wide over the past few months than we have in the last year or two. These concerns you and others keep expressing are unfounded.

2 hours ago, Thomas L. said:

Yeah I can't see Sprint making any big moves to be honest, they haven't shown a huge interest in that kind of improvement. 

 

14 minutes ago, Paynefanbro said:

Sprint is already spending money on upgrading a ton of sites despite the fact that most of them will be deactivated. I truly believe the merger has not and will not influence their 5G plans right now. It will continue as normal because if the merger doesn't go through, the money spent will have been worth it and if it does go through, the money spent on upgrading those sites will be a drop in the bucket compared to their combined revenue.

Exactly. Upgrades are still moving and at a rather rapid pace, even on sites that may very well be decommissioned after the merger. 

Gotta remember that the sites aren't going to be decommissioned overnight. And B41/B25/B26 isn't going to be added to all T-Mobile sites overnight. So it's beneficial to both Sprint and T-Mobile to keep Sprint sites from falling behind on upgrades. Even if they are to be decommissioned eventually. 

 

[tybo31316]

With the new T-Mobile putting Sprint bands on all T-Mobile sites. Will they just move the existing Sprint equipment from Sprint sites to T-Mobile’s sites?

Or would T-Mobile install new equipment for Sprint bands?

[Dkoellerwx]

Just now, tybo31316 said:

With the new T-Mobile putting Sprint bands on all T-Mobile sites. Will they just move the existing Sprint equipment from Sprint sites to T-Mobile’s sites?

Or would T-Mobile install new equipment for Sprint bands?

I would imagine it will depend on the area and how antenna heavy the T-Mobile site already is. I would suspect they will try to use dual/tri-band antennas where possible. Perhaps using existing T-Mobile gear for PCS LTE, and adding a B26/41 antenna for the other bands, if that is the route they decide to go. I doubt they have those types of things ironed out just yet considering we're quite a ways off from the merger being approved at the moment.

[RedSpark]

1 hour ago, Dkoellerwx said:

I know in your specific area of your market upgrades have been lagging, but we all have to remember the network is much larger than your particular neighborhood. We have been seeing upgrades moving faster network wide over the past few months than we have in the last year or two. These concerns you and others keep expressing are unfounded.

 

Exactly. Upgrades are still moving and at a rather rapid pace, even on sites that may very well be decommissioned after the merger. 

Gotta remember that the sites aren't going to be decommissioned overnight. And B41/B25/B26 isn't going to be added to all T-Mobile sites overnight. So it's beneficial to both Sprint and T-Mobile to keep Sprint sites from falling behind on upgrades. Even if they are to be decommissioned eventually. 

 

It’s encouraging to hear that things are still happening.

Reason I’m skeptical of what we hear is that we heard promises from Marcelo for years about passing the competition.

A bit salty that DC isn’t part of the upgrades yet, but it is what it is.

[Dkoellerwx]

14 minutes ago, RedSpark said:

It’s encouraging to hear that things are still happening.

Reason I’m skeptical of what we hear is that we heard promises from Marcelo for years about passing the competition.

A bit salty that DC isn’t part of the upgrades yet, but it is what it is.

I understand, the DC metro should be further along than what it seems. But you have reported some pretty fantastic upgrades in at least part of the metro. B41 is on pretty much every site around you, however a lot of it is Clear equipment, which is hit and miss on performance. 

Sprint is on an upgrade blitz right now in the Nebraska/Iowa markets, northern California markets, central Missouri (plus some of Kansas City and St. Louis). They can't be everywhere all at once but clearly they're still working on upgrades. Sites that have been sorely needing B41 are finally getting it all across Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska. I mention those because we have active members in those areas that are able to report.