Official Tmobile-Sprint merger discussion thread

[tybo31316]

5 hours ago, PedroDaGr8 said:

AT&T filed a complaint which the FCC is required to investigate (even if it is spurious). While investigating, congress let the FCCs spectrum auction authorization expire. 

So what happens when the spectrum auction authorization expire?

[jonathanm1978]

1 hour ago, tybo31316 said:

So what happens when the spectrum auction authorization expire?

That was my question too but I didn't want to fill up the comments with things that possibly have been discussed...Hopefully Tmo can just reapply for the authorizations without much hassle...

And then, I hope it's just a software upgrade for the current hardware on the tower and doesn't require a fresh climb to make use of it. Not sure what they are putting on towers nowadays.. 

[iansltx]

13 hours ago, jonathanm1978 said:

That was my question too but I didn't want to fill up the comments with things that possibly have been discussed...Hopefully Tmo can just reapply for the authorizations without much hassle...

And then, I hope it's just a software upgrade for the current hardware on the tower and doesn't require a fresh climb to make use of it. Not sure what they are putting on towers nowadays.. 

Won't require another climb to use the extra spectrum.

[Dkoellerwx]

20 hours ago, tybo31316 said:

So what happens when the spectrum auction authorization expire?

18 hours ago, jonathanm1978 said:

That was my question too but I didn't want to fill up the comments with things that possibly have been discussed...Hopefully Tmo can just reapply for the authorizations without much hassle...

And then, I hope it's just a software upgrade for the current hardware on the tower and doesn't require a fresh climb to make use of it. Not sure what they are putting on towers nowadays.. 

T-Mobile is basically just in limbo waiting for the FCC to have its authorization back. Tmo also applied for a special use license to use the spectrum they won without having it officially authorized. 

See here: 

 

[Paynefanbro]

Deutsche Telekom regains majority control of T-Mobile US

https://www.sdxcentral.com/articles/news/deutsche-telekom-regains-majority-control-of-t-mobile-us/2023/04/

[iansltx]

Was in South Florida and the Keys until earlier this evening. Saw some sites with 100+50 MHz n41, with reasonable amounts of 10x10 n25...not contiguous, but enough to ensure consistent performance.

One big coverage hole: the Everglades. VZW had spots of coverage, including n77, but was a bit hit or miss. AT&T was a bit better, including my first sighting of 10x10 n2 DSS. T-Mobile should throw 600 MHz on whatever sites AT&T and VZW have because otherwise their customers will be sitting on Starlink once that finally launches.

[mikejeep]

4 hours ago, iansltx said:

One big coverage hole: the Everglades. VZW had spots of coverage, including n77, but was a bit hit or miss. AT&T was a bit better, including my first sighting of 10x10 n2 DSS. T-Mobile should throw 600 MHz on whatever sites AT&T and VZW have because otherwise their customers will be sitting on Starlink once that finally launches.

I believe that Sprint had several 2-sector sites along Alligator Alley that provided coverage on the highway.. did T-Mobile take those down? Or were you elsewhere?

[RedSpark]

[S4GRU]

22 hours ago, RedSpark said:

Although it's not been perfect, the merger has actually exceeded my expectations.  It was a huge merger, and Tmo has largely pulled it off well.  Tmo did better running itself and Sprint, than Sprint ever did of itself alone.  Tmo has even still grown organic coverage during all of this.  Quite amazing.

Robert

[iansltx]

On 4/9/2023 at 3:01 AM, mikejeep said:

I believe that Sprint had several 2-sector sites along Alligator Alley that provided coverage on the highway.. did T-Mobile take those down? Or were you elsewhere?

Were further south, I think. Shark Valley, Anhinga Trail, and down to the Flamingo visitor center.

[dkyeager]

https://www.lightreading.com/5g-and-beyond/t-mobile-rumored-to-be-eying-5g-equipment-from-samsung/d/d-id/784419?

Personally preferred the Samsung equipment over Ericson in terms of performance in the Sprint days.

[RedSpark]

Maybe we'll get an update on Billing Migration for Sprint customers?

[S4GRU]

15 hours ago, dkyeager said:

https://www.lightreading.com/5g-and-beyond/t-mobile-rumored-to-be-eying-5g-equipment-from-samsung/d/d-id/784419?

Personally preferred the Samsung equipment over Ericson in terms of performance in the Sprint days.

And easiest to spot.  

Robert

[the_intern]

On 4/12/2023 at 10:37 PM, iansltx said:

Were further south, I think. Shark Valley, Anhinga Trail, and down to the Flamingo visitor center.

Can't speak to all of these but I know for a fact that Flamingo will have a new site build live later this year. 

[RedSpark]

Just announced:

https://www.t-mobile.com/news/un-carrier/un-carrier-move-phone-freedom

We're on Sprint Max so I wonder what this means for us....

[iansltx]

On 4/19/2023 at 4:09 PM, the_intern said:

Can't speak to all of these but I know for a fact that Flamingo will have a new site build live later this year. 

That'll be super helpful. If it's a tall tower running at least n71 + B12 that should go a *long* way toward filling that coverage hole.

[iansltx]

On 4/18/2023 at 4:30 PM, dkyeager said:

https://www.lightreading.com/5g-and-beyond/t-mobile-rumored-to-be-eying-5g-equipment-from-samsung/d/d-id/784419?

Personally preferred the Samsung equipment over Ericson in terms of performance in the Sprint days.

I definitely noticed more interesting CA combos in Samsung markets than in Ericsson ones, though I was late to that party. 25+41 (that was a thing, right?)/25+26 weren't a thing in Ericsson markets.

[jonathanm1978]

I dunno what Tmobile is doing but I've seen 3 different types of 5g today...

 

[dkyeager]

4 hours ago, jonathanm1978 said:

I dunno what Tmobile is doing but I've seen 3 different types of 5g today...

Not all phones can display 5g correctly, especially NSA. Levels of CA is also another issue. Note Cellmapper is better at this, but then stale data is an issue. Best way with Samsung is *#0011#. 5g SA is much more straight forward, but NSA will likely be with us for a while.

[Dkoellerwx]

15 hours ago, jonathanm1978 said:

I dunno what Tmobile is doing but I've seen 3 different types of 5g today...

 

 

 

 

First image is SA n25, aka 5G on B25. Second is NSA 5G, likely n25 or n71 combined with B66 LTE. Last image is not 5G, that is B71 LTE. All those combinations are pretty normal things to see when you are in a somewhat fringe area.

[iansltx]

Albuquerque now has only 10x10 B2 LTE, with 15x15 thrown at n25. I'm seeing 3x CA on 80 MHz n41 + 15x15 n71 + 15x15 n25. LTE still has plenty of bandwidth, with 20x20 + 10x10 AWS and some B41.

In bigger news, I just placed a VoNR call there (forced n25-only). I'll force NR-only for the next bit and see if that's the case elsewhere in town.

[iansltx]

Another voice note: at least on the VoNR call I made earlier today, connectivity to Verizon now uses EVS, at least when there's a Pixel 7 on the other end of the call (guessing any reasonably modern phone would behave the same, since EVS has been around since at least the S20). It's nice seeing cross-carrier HD Voice working, particularly given that the extra bandwidth requirements are negligible (I think the call from earlier today was running at 13.2 kbps).

[RedSpark]

T-Mobile is due to release earnings today, so this provides some interesting context: https://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/verizons-rising-churn-problem

[RedSpark]

Industry-Leading Postpaid and Broadband Customer Growth⁽¹⁾

• Postpaid net account additions of 287 thousand, best in industry
• Postpaid net customer additions of 1.3 million, more than AT&T and Verizon combined and raising guidance
• Postpaid phone net customer additions of 538 thousand, higher share of industry net adds year-over-year
• Postpaid phone churn of 0.89%, only operator to improve year-over-year
• High Speed Internet net customer additions of 523 thousand, more than AT&T, Verizon, Comcast and Charter combined for the 4^th consecutive quarter

......

T-Mobile Reigns as Nationwide Overall Network Leader and Largest, Fastest and Most-Awarded 5G Network

T-Mobile’s 5G network covers 326 million people with more geographic coverage than AT&T and Verizon combined. 275 million people nationwide are covered by T-Mobile’s super-fast Ultra Capacity 5G, and the Un-carrier plans to reach 300 million people with Ultra Capacity this year – nearly everyone in the country.

Q1 2023 Investor Factbook (PDF): https://s29.q4cdn.com/310188824/files/doc_financials/2023/q1/Q1-2023-Investor-Factbook.pdf

Page 14

Merger-Related Synergies Guidance

Merger synergies are expected to be between $7.3 billion to $7.5 billion in 2023:

• ▪  $2.6 billion to $2.7 billion of SG&A expense reductions

• ▪  $3.1 billion to $3.2 billion of cost of service expense reductions achieved through network efficiencies

• ▪  Approximately $1.6 billion of savings related to avoided network expenses

 

[RedSpark]

https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/t-mobiles-merger-with-sprint-everything-thats-changed-3-years-later

Good read. There's a whole lot here...

Also: https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/t-mobile-continues-growth-streak-with-1-3-million-new-customers/

It gets increasingly difficult to reach the last slices of the American population given geography constraints, said Ulf Ewaldsson, T-Mobile's executive vice president of network. "I would say it's about three times harder for every 10 [thousand people] you add," he said.

Ewaldsson noted that T-Mobile has 150MHz of dedicated midband 5G spectrum, and as the carrier shifts more frequency from 4G LTE to 5G, it'll end the year with over 200MHz on midband. "We're very confident that we'll reach [our year-end goal] with the build plan we have today," he said.