Official Tmobile-Sprint merger discussion thread

[troyd96]

7 minutes ago, mattp said:

How do you tell it is oversaturated nood I run in to a different issue signal get so weak and phone get hot then it go. In a loop of more weak then more warm. Then I tune data off and on and it seme to now works ok 

Sounds like you are having signal strength issues.  I don't have that problem except in rural areas (which there are many in Georgia).  My problem is in urban and suburban areas, my signal level will be in the -80 to -95 range (which is perfectly acceptable for LTE) and I will get very low download speeds and the speedtest will error out for upload most of the time.  

The upload speed and latency is I believe #1 issues Sprint has on its networks.  I can get by with 5-10 Mbps, but when the upload doesn't even register, then that is your bottleneck.  That always happens on the oversaturated towers where I most frequent.

[mattp]

1 hour ago, troyd96 said:

Sounds like you are having signal strength issues.  I don't have that problem except in rural areas (which there are many in Georgia).  My problem is in urban and suburban areas, my signal level will be in the -80 to -95 range (which is perfectly acceptable for LTE) and I will get very low download speeds and the speedtest will error out for upload most of the time.  

The upload speed and latency is I believe #1 issues Sprint has on its networks.  I can get by with 5-10 Mbps, but when the upload doesn't even register, then that is your bottleneck.  That always happens on the oversaturated towers where I most frequent.

yep i get -115 at times or worst  i have a log of it  but only on lte if i put my phone to 3g it seem to do better 

is it nomrl to switch provider and not use up all the data before switching 

[Brad The Beast]

So some of the states have a lawsuit to stop the merger. I found this quote from a Wall Street Journal article:

Quote

“The states have a higher burden than they did when they first filed the lawsuit,” said James Fishkin, an antitrust lawyer with Dechert LLP. “The states need to be able to demonstrate that this divestiture to Dish may not succeed.”

Does this mean the states have to prove that Dish won't actually do anything? If that's the case then that should be easy since Dish has done nothing with their spectrum for years.

[greenbastard]

10 hours ago, tyroned3222 said:

 it will move existing T-Mobile and Sprint customers to a common core network. 

This doesn't sound right. Both networks will still be up and running separately. MOCN will just allow Sprint users to access T-Mobile LTE and vice versa.

[tyroned3222]

This doesn't sound right. Both networks will still be up and running separately. MOCN will just allow Sprint users to access T-Mobile LTE and vice versa.

Is it not reciprocal roaming

In the same filing, T-Mobile CTO Neville Ray also provided some details on how T-Mobile plans to migrate Sprint customers to its network once the merger is approved. Ray said that it will move existing T-Mobile and Sprint customers to a common core network. That will require T-Mobile’s engineering team to bridge the two standalone core networks together.

To do that, they will use a bridge technology called multi-operator core network (MOCN), which basically uses a virtual single core network to route services to the T-Mobile core.

At the same time, T-Mobile engineers will increase the scale of T-Mobile’s core network to handle increased traffic created by the new Sprint customers.


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[Tengen31]

Is it not reciprocal roaming

 

In the same filing, T-Mobile CTO Neville Ray also provided some details on how T-Mobile plans to migrate Sprint customers to its network once the merger is approved. Ray said that it will move existing T-Mobile and Sprint customers to a common core network. That will require T-Mobile’s engineering team to bridge the two standalone core networks together.

 

To do that, they will use a bridge technology called multi-operator core network (MOCN), which basically uses a virtual single core network to route services to the T-Mobile core.

 

At the same time, T-Mobile engineers will increase the scale of T-Mobile’s core network to handle increased traffic created by the new Sprint customers.

 

 

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Does that mean that customers from either can access TMO and Sprint Towers.

 

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[tyroned3222]

Does that mean that customers from either can access TMO and Sprint Towers. 
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Yes, they will all be brought under one core.. 20 million sprint customers are ready for it via firmware update


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[Tengen31]

Yes, they will all be brought under one core.. 20 million sprint customers are ready for it via firmware update


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I'm sure it's higher than 20 million?

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[tyroned3222]

I'm sure it's higher than 20 million?

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Tmo is reporting 20 million handsets


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[Tengen31]

Tmo is reporting 20 million handsets


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Why only 20 million?

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[tyroned3222]

Why only 20 million?

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I guess only 20 million handsets are capable of it .. most newer phones are .. most older ones can’t


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[Tengen31]

I guess only 20 million handsets are capable of it .. most newer phones are .. most older ones can’t


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Yeah. There are some older ones from what I can see that can do H+ for calls and B25 for LTE. TMobile could do MFBI for those

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[tommym65]

1 minute ago, tyroned3222 said:

I guess only 20 million handsets are capable of it .. most newer phones are .. most older ones can’t


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The question then is, what are they going to do with the millions of loyal Sprint customers who have aging handsets. (I have 4.)(And have been waiting to upgrade until this whole thing shakes out.) 

[tyroned3222]

The question then is, what are they going to do with the millions of loyal Sprint customers who have aging handsets. (I have 4.)(And have been waiting to upgrade until this whole thing shakes out.) 

I’m sure the strategy is to get those customers into newer handsets and to TMO favor in a band 71 capable device and get a great deal to do so


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[Tengen31]

The question then is, what are they going to do with the millions of loyal Sprint customers who have aging handsets. (I have 4.)(And have been waiting to upgrade until this whole thing shakes out.) 

Just buy yourself a unlocked phone. Can switch between whatever carrier you want that way.

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[mattp]

4 minutes ago, Tengen31 said:

Just buy yourself a unlocked phone. Can switch between whatever carrier you want that way.

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Yep I like it a lot 

[RAvirani]

1 hour ago, tyroned3222 said:

To do that, they will use a bridge technology called multi-operator core network (MOCN), which basically uses a virtual single core network to route services to the T-Mobile core.

This is incorrect. MOCN is used when providers are sharing one RAN and have separate network cores. This what T-Mobile has done to allow LTE roaming.

MOCN is not the long-term plan post merger. MOCN will only be used temporarily in order to allow New T-Mobile users to connect to both the Sprint and T-Mobile's RANs while retaining connections to their respective core networks (where the HSS/billing/account and other servers reside).

Post-merger T-Mobile will upgrade their EPC's capacity such that it will be able to handle the increased traffic formerly Sprint users will bring. Then, via OTA updates and backend merging of customer data, they will move devices/accounts over to the New T-Mobile core network.

[tyroned3222]

Yes, that’s what Neville plans is. This was Neville quote.. it is the fastest and smoothest way to transition everyone


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[greenbastard]

2 hours ago, tyroned3222 said:

Yes, that’s what Neville plans is. This was Neville quote.. it is the fastest and smoothest way to transition everyone


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MOCN is just a stop-gap solution while they figure out how to transfer everyone to the T-Mobile core network. MOCN cannot be used to combine two networks into one, but can be used to allow a group of users access to more than one network.

T-Mobile already implements MOCN so Sprint users can roam on their network without any compatibility issues. There is no need to worry about VoLTE compatibility or eCSFB issues with MOCN unlike with traditional roaming. This is the reason why T-Mobile roaming comes back with a Clearwire PLMN instead of a T-Mobile PLMN 

 

[danlodish345]

MOCN is just a stop-gap solution while they figure out how to transfer everyone to the T-Mobile core network. MOCN cannot be used to combine two networks into one, but can be used to allow a group of users access to more than one network.
T-Mobile already implements MOCN so Sprint users can roam on their network without any compatibility issues. There is no need to worry about VoLTE compatibility or eCSFB issues with MOCN unlike with traditional roaming. This is the reason why T-Mobile roaming comes back with a Clearwire PLMN instead of a T-Mobile PLMN 
 

Yeah T-Mobile isn't that bad here. But this speed test is when no one is using the network obviously LOL

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[RAvirani]

2 hours ago, greenbastard said:

MOCN is just a stop-gap solution while they figure out how to transfer everyone to the T-Mobile core network. MOCN cannot be used to combine two networks into one, but can be used to allow a group of users access to more than one network.

T-Mobile already implements MOCN so Sprint users can roam on their network without any compatibility issues. There is no need to worry about VoLTE compatibility or eCSFB issues with MOCN unlike with traditional roaming. This is the reason why T-Mobile roaming comes back with a Clearwire PLMN instead of a T-Mobile PLMN 

 

^ This. This is correct. 

[bigsnake49]

So, where is the FCC consent decree concerning this merger? We have not heard anything from them. Are they dotting the i's and crossing their t's. This has been the longest, strangest mergers ever.

Edited July 31, 2019 by bigsnake49

[Handyman]

7 hours ago, RAvirani said:

^ This. This is correct. 

So, to get it correctly for Sprint cell users, all devices are currently roaming onto TMo towers via the MOCN.

At some point, they will issue a firmware update so that capable devices will use TMo natively?  When this happens, will the old Sprint network not be accessible any longer, be considered roaming, or become integrated fully (i.e., active data handovers)?

 

 

[dro1984]

34 minutes ago, bigsnake49 said:

So, where is the FCC consent decree concerning this merger? We have not heard anything from them. Are they dotting the i's and crossing their t's. This has been the longest, strangest mergers ever.

They had said on the briefing that it was going to be a few weeks as the agreement is written up and formally signed by all parties.   Sounded like the a week or two into August.... 

Edited July 31, 2019 by dro1984

[RAvirani]

39 minutes ago, Handyman said:

So, to get it correctly for Sprint cell users, all devices are currently roaming onto TMo towers via the MOCN.

Correct. 

40 minutes ago, Handyman said:

At some point, they will issue a firmware update so that capable devices will use TMo natively?  When this happens, will the old Sprint network not be accessible any longer, be considered roaming, or become integrated fully (i.e., active data handovers)?

Post merger, MOCN will be implemented the other way (i.e. so T-Mobile users can access Sprint's RAN). This will be a stopgap solution until the networks are fully merged and integrated. After that, there will be no need for MOCN anymore.