Official Tmobile-Sprint merger discussion thread

[RedSpark]

40 minutes ago, PhillipJames89 said:

Lmao this caption triggered me because Dan Hesse’s original plan was to deploy band 41 on every site 😔. 

Marcelo and Masa both had different plans unfortunately.

[belusnecropolis]

On 4/22/2020 at 4:12 PM, 645824 said:

Now I'm waiting for SpaceX's StarLink.

I am always building something capable, let me know if you would like to try out something different until satellites git gud.

[clbowens]

Now, they just need to deploy the "layer cake" to the rest of the country.  Even if it's just 2 layers of the layer cake in rural areas.

Now I want some cake.  See what you guys did.

[PhillipJames89]

1 hour ago, clbowens said:

Now, they just need to deploy the "layer cake" to the rest of the country.  Even if it's just 2 layers of the layer cake in rural areas.

Now I want some cake.  See what you guys did.

Très léché for everyone! 

[jreuschl]

The "layer cake" is all about 5G though it seems.  No LTE improvements?

[cyclone]

10 minutes ago, jreuschl said:

The "layer cake" is all about 5G though it seems.  No LTE improvements?

I would assume LTE is a "dead" project. Improvement would just be noticed once people stop overcrowding and move to 5G just as happened to 3G after LTE came about

[Tengen31]

I would assume LTE is a "dead" project. Improvement would just be noticed once people stop overcrowding and move to 5G just as happened to 3G after LTE came about

Accept 5G can handle up to 2 million devices vs 2,000 on LTE. Their should still be LTE upgrades as most people still have LTE phones and alot will not upgrade anytime soon. That's the only way they can move sprints customers over

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[greenbastard]

1 hour ago, clbowens said:

Even if it's just 2 layers of the layer cake in rural areas.

I don't think this is going to happen like you think it will. Most of the 2.5/2.6 Ghz licenses that T-Mobile owns are concentrated in urban areas.

For rural, T-Mobile will have trouble unless they buy spectrum. There are a lot of areas where they don't own much AWS or PCS. In West Texas for example, there are a few counties where the 600 Mhz auction more than doubled their spectrum holdings. That's how bad it can get.

[Tengen31]

I don't think this is going to happen like you think it will. Most of the 2.5/2.6 Ghz licenses that T-Mobile owns are concentrated in urban areas.

For rural, T-Mobile will have trouble unless they buy spectrum. There are a lot of areas where they don't own much AWS or PCS. In West Texas for example, there are a few counties where the 600 Mhz auction more than doubled their spectrum holdings. That's how bad it can get.

They own B41 in plunky of rural areas. TMO also has areas where they do own AWS but are not actually using it.

West Texas they do hold AWS and PCS. Some thanks to sprint

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[greenbastard]

7 minutes ago, Tengen31 said:

They own B41 in plunky of rural areas. TMO also has areas where they do own AWS but are not actually using it.

West Texas they do hold AWS and PCS. Some thanks to sprint

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There are a few counties in West Texas where all T-Mobile owned was two non-adjacent 5x5 blocks on AWS (before the 600 Mhz auction). Sprint wasn't doing so hot there either on spectrum. As a matter of fact, I don't think Sprint had any EBS or BRS spectrum there either. 

Either way, don't expect to be blown away in rural areas. Sure, you'll get NR. But it won't be as robust as it will be in Dallas or San Antonio.

[Tengen31]

There are a few counties in West Texas where all T-Mobile owned was two non-adjacent 5x5 blocks on AWS (before the 600 Mhz auction). Sprint wasn't doing so hot there either on spectrum. As a matter of fact, I don't think Sprint had any EBS or BRS spectrum there either. 
Either way, don't expect to be blown away in rural areas. Sure, you'll get NR. But it won't be as robust as it will be in Dallas or San Antonio.

They have around 12 carriers of B41 in West tx

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[greenbastard]

Just now, Tengen31 said:

They have around 12 carriers of B41 in West tx

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I'm talking more along the lines of the energy area known as the Concho Valley. West Texas includes everything from Lubbock down to San Angelo and Midland-Odessa. It's a pretty massive area. Once you get into areas west of Fort Stockton, it's no longer considered "West Texas". Some call it Trans-Pecos, others l call it "Far West Texas". Personally, that area doesn't feel like Texas tbh. El Paso feels more like Arizona or New Mexico than it does "Texas".

Also, those maps are highly inaccurate when it comes to the 2.5/2.6 Ghz licenses (or at least last I checked). It's a mess.

[S4GRU]

The New Tmo has lots of BRS in rural areas.  Tons.  Just not nationwide.  And they have EBS licenses in most of those rural communities if they have a university or other educational system where they have a lease.  Think Rapid City and Pierre, South Dakota as examples.  As well as Albuquerque and Las Cruces, NM.

Although there may be more rural areas they would like to pursue more B41/n41 spectrum through leases or acquisitions, they are still in a very good position.  Frankly, if a lowly rural interstate towers only has BRS and no EBS, it's going to be way more than it needs to serve the customers that drive by it.  And expect Tmo to add B41/n41 to these areas last anyway.

Robert

This is a Spectrum Omega map edited to show BRS T-Mobile holdings.  It includes every BTA that T-Mobile has any BRS spectrum.  The ones in gray show BTA's where someone else owns the BRS license.  And no color means no one is shown as a licensed BRS holder for that BTA.

[Tengen31]

The New Tmo has lots of BRS in rural areas.  Tons.  Just not nationwide.  And they have EBS licenses in most of those rural communities if they have a university or other educational system where they have a lease.  Think Rapid City and Pierre, SOuth Dakota as examples.

Although there may be more rural areas they would like to pursue more B41/n41 spectrum through leases or acquisitions, they are still in a very good position.  Frankly, if a lowly rural interstate towers only has BRS and no EBS, it's going to be way more than it needs to serve the customers that drive by it.  And expect Tmo to add B41/n41 to these areas last anyway.

Robert

Plus side with SD is they are free to you the spectrum right away as sprint way never using it. I wouldn't be surprised if the PCS is used soon. They have some 10x10+5x5 in SD when you first leave Minnesota but not that far in

 

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[Paynefanbro]

Looks like T-Mobile slowed down 5G deployment significantly in the past few months because of the merger. Only 1,600 sites upgraded in all of Q1 but they managed to do 62.5% of that amount in a single month post-merger.

[ingenium]

Looks like T-Mobile slowed down 5G deployment significantly in the past few months because of the merger. Only 1,600 sites upgraded in all of Q1 but they managed to do 62.5% of that amount in a single month post-merger.

They have a lot more small cells than I thought. Do they count every antenna on a DAS separately?

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[Mr.Nuke]

5 hours ago, greenbastard said:

I'm talking more along the lines of the energy area known as the Concho Valley. West Texas includes everything from Lubbock down to San Angelo and Midland-Odessa. It's a pretty massive area.

Sprint T-Mobile has EBS in San Angelo.

5 hours ago, greenbastard said:

Also, those maps are highly inaccurate when it comes to the 2.5/2.6 Ghz licenses (or at least last I checked). It's a mess.

BRS and especially EBS is inherently messy for tracking, but I don't see anything that  jumps out as inaccurate on those maps i.e. in the Concho Valley, Sprint not having any BRS is accurately reflected, etc. 

[Mr.Nuke]

4 hours ago, Mr.Nuke said:

BRS and especially EBS is inherently messy for tracking, but I don't see anything that  jumps out as inaccurate on those maps i.e. in the Concho Valley, Sprint not having any BRS is accurately reflected, etc. 

I'll take that back a bit, because it also appears to me via ULS that Sprint/T-Mobile have the entire BRS in San Angelo as well...

[Abdual Rodriguez]

Ill make my comments brief, in hopes that it creates dialog abbot our future. The synergy and blending of the 2 company's from the network perspective is a complete disaster already! If you are a Sprint Network Employee and feel everything is so far, so good. You have not yet been tortured by the superior leader. Its coming. 

T-mobile either has a leadership directive to force out Sprint employees, or the local markets and regions are overwhelmed by the extensive knowledge Sprint folks bring and that intimidation is causing them to try and force you out. To be fair, Sprint had layers of dead weight also and most need to be bounced. 

From the brief time I have seen their processes and procedures combined with the lack of experience, rest assured you are all in for a wild ride.

How about unionizing? 

[dkyeager]

Don't forget that more band 41 is supposed to be auctioned off soon, which will mainly be in rural areas. No date has been set. Hopefully the FCC gets moving in case the administration changes with possiblely more delays.

[dkyeager]

 

On 5/7/2020 at 11:40 AM, Abdual Rodriguez said:

Ill make my comments brief, in hopes that it creates dialog abbot our future. The synergy and blending of the 2 company's from the network perspective is a complete disaster already! If you are a Sprint Network Employee and feel everything is so far, so good. You have not yet been tortured by the superior leader. Its coming. 

T-mobile either has a leadership directive to force out Sprint employees, or the local markets and regions are overwhelmed by the extensive knowledge Sprint folks bring and that intimidation is causing them to try and force you out. To be fair, Sprint had layers of dead weight also and most need to be bounced. 

From the brief time I have seen their processes and procedures combined with the lack of experience, rest assured you are all in for a wild ride.

How about unionizing? 

 

I would think Sprint network employees would be most vulnerable when the Sprint network is eliminated.  Up to that point they need to keep both networks operational. I have heard reports of some work still being done on Sprint sites since April 1 just to retain Sprint customers (like maintenance or increasing backhaul to make a site function). In some markets the T-Mobile network staff has a lot of former pre-merger Sprint network employees.

Your post is on the publicly visible side of S4gru.com, which could threaten your or other posters if employed now by T-Mobile.  You might want to donate do you could post inside the paywall. 

Most people are on this site for technical information so there might be better forums.

[PedroDaGr8]

I noticed on my phone that T-Mobile has reordered the band priority moving B41 from second to third. Previously it went B25->B41->B26; now it goes B25->B26->B41. This explains why I have been connecting to B26 a LOT more often than I used to. My guess is this is part of the preliminary steps to phase out B41. 

[Cubbiefan82]

I hope they don't do that in my area of Chicago, I love my band 41 on my tower. Even with people at home, I am still getting over 100 mbps per second. 

[RedSpark]

Any news come out of this today?

 

[Mr.Nuke]

4 hours ago, PedroDaGr8 said:

I noticed on my phone that T-Mobile has reordered the band priority moving B41 from second to third. Previously it went B25->B41->B26; now it goes B25->B26->B41. This explains why I have been connecting to B26 a LOT more often than I used to. My guess is this is part of the preliminary steps to phase out B41. 

More often than not, that setting does very little other than the initial scan by the device and then the network puts the device where it wants it.

T-Mobile from the start has said they don't want to degrade the network for customers on either side. Phasing out band 41 lte right now would be a serious degradation.There is more than enough BRS/EBS spectrum in most places especially in the near-term to allow Sprint customers to remain on 3 carrier band 41 LTE.