Official Tmobile-Sprint merger discussion thread

[derrph]

5 minutes ago, tyroned3222 said:

Yup in my market

Sprint : 60 macro sites

T-mobile : 156

It would take Sprint a long time to catch up to that macro count

 

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

 

 

 

Yea that’s a mess. As they keep adding so will T-Mobile. 

[danlodish345]

Yea that’s a mess. As they keep adding so will T-Mobile. 

And one of sprints biggest markets which is New Jersey they do not have even close to uniform coverage or even contiguous coverage for that matter. Their overall coverage has improved but is still nowhere near T-Mobile is actual coverage. Along the highway where near where I live on for carriers work well because there’s a big cell site I say at least a couple hundred feet tall that services All for carriers But once you leave the main highway that runs through the east part of my town the coverage with the carriers does start to deteriorate.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bob Newhart]

Sprint is building towers, brand new towers. There is a limit to how many they can build though.

[RedSpark]

7 hours ago, tyroned3222 said:

Yup in my market

Sprint : 60 macro sites

T-mobile : 156

It would take Sprint a long time to catch up to that macro count

 

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

 

 

 

I have some family that went out to Bethany Beach, Delaware for vacation this week. Spoke with them today via Google Hangouts and the first thing they told me was that they were on WiFi because Sprint’s coverage/speeds were terrible (They have an HTC U11 and Samsung S8+, both fully updated.). Sure enough, I checked out the Rootmetrics “Fastest Speed Found” Map Layer for the Bethany Beach area and it shows a slew of slow red hexes signifying slow data. The other carriers show much better. Same for the “Best Technology Found” Map Layer. This isn’t a terrain issue. This is a site density and capacity issue. (I helped them report the issue via the My Sprint App) If T-Mobile Roaming can help address this in the event the merger fails, and until Sprint’s Capex catches up, so much the better.

Edited August 14, 2018 by RedSpark
Sorry for the Duplicate Posts. On mobile and it didn’t seem that my posts were going through.

[dkyeager]

9 hours ago, derrph said:

I can probably agree with that. Sprint needs work in many cities. Which is what they are doing now but as a fallback in the case the merger falls through but to for better prep for 5G. This is really their chance to shine. 

If Sprint had more cash, I am sure they would be deploying 5G ready B41 equipment instead of 8T8Rs.

[Trip]

Sprint's lack of density is definitely an issue which I encounter now and then.  However, I do find Sprint's site distribution to generally be good.  Rarely do you see two sites practically on top of each other, unless one is a Clear site that was left in place.  With T-Mobile, and with AT&T for that matter, I sometimes see deployments on adjacent towers, and then areas not far away that have poor service because they're not on a nearby tower.  T-Mobile has been fixing some of those areas lately, and I do agree that using T-Mobile as the "base" network makes sense in most cases (Shentel region not included in that).  They've been adding sites around me and it makes their network the one to beat.

I also find that in places where Sprint has bothered to serve a more rural area, they do an equal or better job of it as compared to T-Mobile.  Just look at Fauquier County southeast of VA-28, as an example. 

- Trip

[danlodish345]

I have some family that went out to Bethany Beach, Delaware for vacation this week. Spoke with them today via Google Hangouts and the first thing they told me was that they were on WiFi because Sprint’s coverage/speeds were terrible (They have an HTC U11 and Samsung S8+, both fully updated.). Sure enough, I checked out the Rootmetrics “Fastest Speed Found” Map Layer for the Bethany Beach area and it shows a slew of slow red hexes signifying slow data. The other carriers show much better. Same for the “Best Technology Found” Map Layer. This isn’t a terrain issue. This is a site density and capacity issue. (I helped them report the issue via the My Sprint App) If T-Mobile Roaming can help address this in the event the merger fails, and until Sprint’s Capex catches up, so much the better.

I can definitely agree with you on this one. When I had boost mobile last year sprints coverage was improved without but it wasn’t much of an improvement. Just hope it got better. The Delaware market could use massive improvements...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[derrph]

1 hour ago, dkyeager said:

If Sprint had more cash, I am sure they would be deploying 5G ready B41 equipment instead of 8T8Rs.

I thought in the starter 5G cities they were deploying 5G ready equipment?

[dkyeager]

Sprint often poorly covers nearby rural towns or rest areas (Shentel does a much better job with this).  These rural areas are likely where much of the site reductions will be made because you can not afford too many sites given lower subscriber density.  This will also work the other way in terms of expansion.  Twice as many users will make a site viable.

The urban areas will have site reductions just given the bulk of the sites are located there.  Co-sites will likely be consolidated on one rack if possible and re-aimed.  Same with the other retained sites.  Small cells for coverage will need to be moved, possibly true for those providing better indoor coverage.

[dkyeager]

3 minutes ago, derrph said:

I thought in the starter 5G cities they were deploying 5G ready equipment?

So far we have found a grand total of one Massive MIMO iirc.

 

[derrph]

13 minutes ago, dkyeager said:

So far we have found a grand total of one Massive MIMO iirc.

 

No lies detected.

[RedSpark]

30 minutes ago, dkyeager said:

So far we have found a grand total of one Massive MIMO iirc.

 

Is that the one in Brooklyn?

[Paynefanbro]

There's no way of telling if we've connected to one though since they're pretty much indistinguishable from other sites in the debug menu of our phones and on SignalCheck. So while we've only spotted one (thanks to a photo of it from Sprint), there may be many others around. It also doesn't help that the NYC market is made up of 1,000+ macros.

[Thomas L.]

If the merger doesn't go through, I think it would be interesting to see Sprint and T-Mobile work on a network sharing agreement, or a collaborative build-out WITHOUT having to merge completely. Bell and Telus did it in Canada when they did their 3G build-out and were abandoning CDMA, and it's not uncommon with carriers in different parts of the world. 

[Paynefanbro]

7 minutes ago, Thomas L. said:

If the merger doesn't go through, I think it would be interesting to see Sprint and T-Mobile work on a network sharing agreement, or a collaborative build-out WITHOUT having to merge completely. Bell and Telus did it in Canada when they did their 3G build-out and were abandoning CDMA, and it's not uncommon with carriers in different parts of the world. 

This honestly is my dream scenario. 

[danlodish345]

If the merger doesn't go through, I think it would be interesting to see Sprint and T-Mobile work on a network sharing agreement, or a collaborative build-out WITHOUT having to merge completely. Bell and Telus did it in Canada when they did their 3G build-out and were abandoning CDMA, and it's not uncommon with carriers in different parts of the world. 

I’m interested to see how this whole thing pans out because there is still sad chance that the merger maybe kiboshed so let’s see what happens if it takes more than a year I wouldn’t be surprised due to the scale of this merger.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BlueAngel]

5 hours ago, Thomas L. said:

If the merger doesn't go through, I think it would be interesting to see Sprint and T-Mobile work on a network sharing agreement, or a collaborative build-out WITHOUT having to merge completely. Bell and Telus did it in Canada when they did their 3G build-out and were abandoning CDMA, and it's not uncommon with carriers in different parts of the world. 

That would be great but I'm not holding my breath.

[Thomas L.]

15 minutes ago, BlueAngel said:

That would be great but I'm not holding my breath.

Neither am I, but since they insist that they can't compete successfully apart, if the merger isn't approved then it would seem to me that would be their only option if they want to survive.

[derrph]

10 hours ago, Thomas L. said:

If the merger doesn't go through, I think it would be interesting to see Sprint and T-Mobile work on a network sharing agreement, or a collaborative build-out WITHOUT having to merge completely. Bell and Telus did it in Canada when they did their 3G build-out and were abandoning CDMA, and it's not uncommon with carriers in different parts of the world. 

That’ll be awesome. Then at that point, they’ll need to compete on price or the things that come included with your plan outside of talk, text and data. 

Also why is it that T-Mobile is the only carrier who hasn’t announced their initial 5G markets? They said they’ll have 30 in first half of 2019 but there’s no list provided. It’s just kinda odd only because they’re always vocal about things. 

[tyroned3222]

That’ll be awesome. Then at that point, they’ll need to compete on price or the things that come included with your plan outside of talk, text and data. 
Also why is it that T-Mobile is the only carrier who hasn’t announced their initial 5G markets? They said they’ll have 30 in first half of 2019 but there’s no list provided. It’s just kinda odd only because they’re always vocal about things. 

I think the roaming aggremeent will be enough for now.. even offering roaming within city limits is a big deal imo and it looks like it will be treated as native coverage which will improve customer experience.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

[tyroned3222]

Neither am I, but since they insist that they can't compete successfully apart, if the merger isn't approved then it would seem to me that would be their only option if they want to survive.

This is just sprint adding more fuel to the merger review.. I'm sure Sprint could continue to become a better business and continue they have this whole time

 

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

 

 

 

[RedSpark]

Interesting “behind the scenes” news:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sprint-corp-m-a-t-mobile-us/t-mobile-runs-behind-the-scenes-pr-push-to-support-sprint-deal-idUSKCN1L512A

[RedSpark]

https://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/fcc-denies-motion-to-stop-clock-t-mobile-sprint-deal

The FCC has denied a request to stop the clock or extend the pleading cycle associated with the proposed T-Mobile/Sprint combination.

Denial: https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-18-870A1.pdf

[bigsnake49]

Can somebody take Charlie Ergen out the back and give him a good beating??

https://www.yahoo.com/gma/maria-butina-romance-heart-alleged-russian-influence-operation-120907120--abc-news-topstories.html

He's been a thorn on Sprint's side forever! Does he not realize that the elimination of Sprint's network will allow him to buy certain network elements at fire sale prices, plus get great rents from site owners eager to replace Sprint?

I can understand the other actors objecting to the merger. I am sure that they will be some concessions such as MVNO protections, maybe leaving CDMA up for a while longer for CDMA roaming for CSpire, but man Dish and Ergen just irritate me.

[belusnecropolis]

33 minutes ago, bigsnake49 said:

Can somebody take Charlie Ergen out the back and give him a good beating??

https://www.yahoo.com/gma/maria-butina-romance-heart-alleged-russian-influence-operation-120907120--abc-news-topstories.html

He's been a thorn on Sprint's side forever! Does he not realize that the elimination of Sprint's network will allow him to buy certain network elements at fire sale prices, plus get great rents from site owners eager to replace Sprint?

I can understand the other actors objecting to the merger. I am sure that they will be some concessions such as MVNO protections, maybe leaving CDMA up for a while longer for CDMA roaming for CSpire, but man Dish and Ergen just irritate me.

Looking for the connection to Charlie and this article, perhaps a . . . Russian connection?