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Official Tmobile-Sprint merger discussion thread


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3 hours ago, greenbastard said:

I can't imagine these boxes (with extremely limited range) creating enough interference to become a nuisance to the 5G network. In theory, they could continue to operate them like T-Mobile operates their current Cellspots.

Whether they do is another story. I think they phase these boxes out in favor of Cellspots due to the clash in airlinks. No more network backhaul for in-home cells.

TDD is a lot more sensitive than FDD when it comes to these things. This is why LTE Airaves are also unavailable in markets without high-low separation. 

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TDD is a lot more sensitive than FDD when it comes to these things. This is why LTE Airaves are also unavailable in markets without high-low separation. 
I wonder if they had issues with the Airave 3. The 3 always used the earfcn of the first macro carrier. I personally didn't notice any issues with interference with it.

I think the bigger concern may be mixing LTE with NR on the same frequency. Specifically with the timing config. I was under the impression that NR can dynamically adjust the timing for upload: download, but LTE is pretty sensitive to everything having the same timing config.

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1 minute ago, ingenium said:

I think the bigger concern may be mixing LTE with NR on the same frequency. Specifically with the timing config. I was under the impression that NR can dynamically adjust the timing for upload: download, but LTE is pretty sensitive to everything having the same timing config.

Correct. One site being off can cause all kinds of issues with TDD-LTE.

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6 hours ago, dewbertdc said:

Maybe they’ll enable Multi-Operator Core Network (MOCN) then, which would bridge the two cores together and allow 5G capable towers to broadcast the Sprint PLMN natively over the NR radios and the LTE anchor bands?

I’m on mobile now and can’t find the link to their filings, but T-Mobile indicated they’d be using MOCN to grant Sprint users native access to the network during integration. 

If they are using MOCN they would still be opening up their LTE network to Sprint users natively by broadcasting a Sprint PLMN over whatever the anchor band is. And I don't think it's possible to roam on LTE and operate natively on 5G at the same time right now. So what it sounds like to me is that the devices that will be operating on T-Mobile's 5G will likely also be getting native access to T-Mobile's LTE (or at least the anchor band).

Someone correct me if I'm wrong!

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https://www.cnet.com/news/t-mobile-to-redeploy-sprints-midband-5g-spectrum-in-new-york-in-may/?utm_source=reddit.com
I don't know enough about the other older 5G phones from Sprint to know if they support the AWS anchor band that T-Mobile has been using.
B2 is also used as an Anchor band for N71. I've also seen it aggregate B71 in with N71, I thought that was interesting.1df611f3ddfbbb95acdf9a98caa58435.jpg2a0af740a85603ab4303d92ce289b144.jpg

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1 hour ago, Paynefanbro said:

If they are using MOCN they would still be opening up their LTE network to Sprint users natively by broadcasting a Sprint PLMN over whatever the anchor band is. And I don't think it's possible to roam on LTE and operate natively on 5G at the same time right now. So what it sounds like to me is that the devices that will be operating on T-Mobile's 5G will likely also be getting native access to T-Mobile's LTE (or at least the anchor band).

Someone correct me if I'm wrong!

That's what I'm thinking.

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7 hours ago, Paynefanbro said:

If they are using MOCN they would still be opening up their LTE network to Sprint users natively by broadcasting a Sprint PLMN over whatever the anchor band is. And I don't think it's possible to roam on LTE and operate natively on 5G at the same time right now. So what it sounds like to me is that the devices that will be operating on T-Mobile's 5G will likely also be getting native access to T-Mobile's LTE (or at least the anchor band).

Someone correct me if I'm wrong!

Right, sorry, I was agreeing with you but also trying to make the point (ineffectively!) that they can limit the bands and towers that they're using MOCN on only to those that are broadcasting the LTE anchor bands for 5G, rather than wholesale for the whole LTE network.  T-Mobile described this granular method of integrating their networks in their merger filings, which are unfortunately no longer up on newtmobile.com.  Anyway, I guess we'll find out in a few days!

I'm a T-Mobile customer now, and wish they'd also do the opposite for Sprint "keep sites" sooner than later.  I'm very satisfied with T-Mobile service generally, but there are several buildings with indoor DASes in the DC area that have Sprint but not T-Mobile... I am assuming T-Mobile would want to fold those into their network.

 

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35 minutes ago, dewbertdc said:

Right, sorry, I was agreeing with you but also trying to make the point (ineffectively!) that they can limit the bands and towers that they're using MOCN on only to those that are broadcasting the LTE anchor bands for 5G, rather than wholesale for the whole LTE network.  T-Mobile described this granular method of integrating their networks in their merger filings, which are unfortunately no longer up on newtmobile.com.  Anyway, I guess we'll find out in a few days!

I'm a T-Mobile customer now, and wish they'd also do the opposite for Sprint "keep sites" sooner than later.  I'm very satisfied with T-Mobile service generally, but there are several buildings with indoor DASes in the DC area that have Sprint but not T-Mobile... I am assuming T-Mobile would want to fold those into their network.

 

I imagine every Sprint asset/network is getting a review as for how it can fold into the T-Mobile network.

I'm also curious what will happen with the network build in the Washington Metro that's being supported by all four carriers. I'm not sure if the carriers were each installing equipment specific to their network, or if it was neutral host/shared equipment.

https://www.wmata.com/about/news/Wireless-service-now-available-in-all-Green-line-tunnels.cfm (December 6, 2019)

The last update before that was in May 2019: https://www.wmata.com/about/news/Metro-wireless-service-available-in-two-thirds-of-tunnels.cfm

Perhaps we'll have an update on their progress next month.

If it is separate equipment for T-Mobile/Sprint, I wonder how that will be integrated and consolidated for the New T-Mobile? How would that work?

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13 minutes ago, runagun said:

TMobile is so kind they're giving me a free Samsung s20 5g on lease. I assume cause I have a LGV50 5g they're going to shut down the 5g part as soon as they can.  

CNET has a great article which summarizes the device offers for those with "legacy" Sprint 5G devices and its plan to shutdown the nine existing Sprint 5G markets and refarm/redeploy the spectrum on T-Mobile: https://www.cnet.com/news/t-mobile-to-redeploy-sprints-midband-5g-spectrum-in-new-york-in-may/

 

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T-Mobile says it's planning to alert people who bought Sprint 5G phones about the need for new devices. It will have a number of offers to encourage these owners to upgrade to a Galaxy S20, with the offer varying slightly depending on how much they're paying per month. 

  • Those who currently own, lease or make payments on a 7 Pro 5G (256GB), S10 5G (256GB), V50 ThinQ (128GB) and are paying less than $10/mo. will get a Samsung Galaxy S20 5G for $0/mo. after $41.67/mo. credit with a new 18-month lease.
  • Those who currently lease or make payments on a 7 Pro 5G (256GB), S10 5G (256GB), V50 ThinQ (128GB) and are paying more than $10/mo. will get a Samsung Galaxy S20 5G for $10/mo. after $31.67/mo. credit with a new 18-month lease.
  • Those who purchased an HTC 5G Hub on an installment plan will get a credit of $12.50/mo. for the remainder of the term. If they purchased the hotspot outright, T-Mobile will give them a one-time credit of $300 applied to their bill.

 

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TMobile is so kind they're giving me a free Samsung s20 5g on lease. I assume cause I have a LGV50 5g they're going to shut down the 5g part as soon as they can.  

Do you know when this offer for us first gen 5G users will start?


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23 minutes ago, RedSpark said:

I imagine every Sprint asset/network is getting a review as for how it can fold into the T-Mobile network.

I'm also curious what will happen with the network build in the Washington Metro that's being supported by all four carriers. I'm not sure if the carriers were each installing equipment specific to their network, or if it was neutral host/shared equipment.

https://www.wmata.com/about/news/Wireless-service-now-available-in-all-Green-line-tunnels.cfm (December 6, 2019)

The last update before that was in May 2019: https://www.wmata.com/about/news/Metro-wireless-service-available-in-two-thirds-of-tunnels.cfm

Perhaps we'll have an update on their progress next month.

If it is separate equipment for T-Mobile/Sprint, I wonder how that will be integrated and consolidated for the New T-Mobile? How would that work?

Oh man, that project was such a mess (as with all things WMATA).  The project was approved in 2009 with a projected end date of 2012.  Metro was required by Congress to provide underground cellular service in order to access a bunch of federal funding.  It's a neutral host system built by a consortium of the big 4 carriers. Most stations have large brown cabinets labeled "CWS" tucked into a corner that house the equipment.

Before all the COVID-19 mess, I commuted daily to Union Station on Metro.  Recently, T-Mobile service on the platform was very congested during rush hour, to the point where I couldn't order a coffee in the Starbucks app until I got up to the surface. I recall when I was on Sprint that Network Signal Info identified service in underground stations and tunnels as a B41 Mini-Macro site.  

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6 minutes ago, dewbertdc said:

Oh man, that project was such a mess (as with all things WMATA).  The project was approved in 2009 with a projected end date of 2012.  Metro was required by Congress to provide underground cellular service in order to access a bunch of federal funding.  It's a neutral host system built by a consortium of the big 4 carriers. Most stations have large brown cabinets labeled "CWS" tucked into a corner that house the equipment.

Before all the COVID-19 mess, I commuted daily to Union Station on Metro.  Recently, T-Mobile service on the platform was very congested during rush hour, to the point where I couldn't order a coffee in the Starbucks app until I got up to the surface. I recall when I was on Sprint that Network Signal Info identified service in underground stations and tunnels as a B41 Mini-Macro site.  

Haha. Yup. It wouldn't be WMATA if it wasn't some kind of mess. I've lived through this history here as well, but at least they're now going to finally finish it. Perhaps with all the metro service cutbacks they've been able to do additional work on it.

I've never noticed the brown cabinets before, but I'll look for them next time I ride. What does "CWS" stand for?

I've had a good experience with the Sprint service in the stations in the past. So the Sprint devices are now roaming on T-Mobile in the stations? That must have been because you didn't have Sprint coverage for some reason.

Would technicians simply have to make configuration changes to the neutral host cabinets/backend to combine the T-Mobile/Sprint network bands onto the New T-Mobile network?

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12 minutes ago, RedSpark said:

Haha. Yup. It wouldn't be WMATA if it wasn't some kind of mess. I've lived through this history here as well, but at least they're now going to finally finish it. Perhaps with all the metro service cutbacks they've been able to do additional work on it.

I've never noticed the brown cabinets before, but I'll look for them next time I ride. What does "CWS" stand for?

I've had a good experience with the Sprint service in the stations in the past. So the Sprint devices are now roaming on T-Mobile in the stations? That must have been because you didn't have Sprint coverage for some reason.

Would technicians simply have to make configuration changes to the neutral host cabinets/backend to combine the T-Mobile/Sprint network bands onto the New T-Mobile network?

I've left Sprint and have a T-Mobile account now, their 3rd Line free and Discount Match promotions from the summer were too good of a deal to pass up for my family... $168 for three Magenta Plus lines, two iPads and Premium Netflix... congestion on T-Mobile is a real problem in the city though.  I'm hopeful they get network integration in DC done quickly to help alleviate some of that.

Anyway, hopefully much of the LTE integration for WMATA can be done remotely... not sure if Sprint 5G ever made it down into the tunnels.  I don't think T-Mobile's did. Not sure what "CWS" stands for... 

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51 minutes ago, derrph said:


Do you know when this offer for us first gen 5G users will start?


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It's going on now.  Go on the website and try and upgrade. 

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It's going on now.  Go on the website and try and upgrade. 

It hasn’t hit my account yet, I can upgrade but it’s requiring me to either pay off the device to own it or the remaining of the 18 month lease.


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24 minutes ago, dewbertdc said:

I've left Sprint and have a T-Mobile account now, their 3rd Line free and Discount Match promotions from the summer were too good of a deal to pass up for my family... $168 for three Magenta Plus lines, two iPads and Premium Netflix... congestion on T-Mobile is a real problem in the city though.  I'm hopeful they get network integration in DC done quickly to help alleviate some of that.

Anyway, hopefully much of the LTE integration for WMATA can be done remotely... not sure if Sprint 5G ever made it down into the tunnels.  I don't think T-Mobile's did. Not sure what "CWS" stands for... 

That sure is a good deal for all that stuff. We're on Unlimited Freedom with Sprint.

I had no idea that T-Mobile was congested here. Sprint has congestion issues in certain spots, and it's clear that's where the capex ran out because they have great performance in areas you'd expect to see congestion. I imagine network integration with Sprint won't be long from now.

I don't have a 5G device so I can't tell if 5G made it down there. Knowing WMATA, I'm not sure it did. However, I imagine T-Mobile/Verizon/AT&T would want to upgrade it to 5G at some point.

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15 minutes ago, derrph said:


It hasn’t hit my account yet, I can upgrade but it’s requiring me to either pay off the device to own it or the remaining of the 18 month lease.


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Ahh my v50 was paid off.  If ur In a lease with your 5g phone you won't get the offer then. 

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13 minutes ago, RedSpark said:

That sure is a good deal for all that stuff. We're on Unlimited Freedom with Sprint.

I had no idea that T-Mobile was congested here. Sprint has congestion issues in certain spots, and it's clear that's where the capex ran out because they have great performance in areas you'd expect to see congestion. I imagine network integration with Sprint won't be long from now.

I don't have a 5G device so I can't tell if 5G made it down there. Knowing WMATA, I'm not sure it did. However, I imagine T-Mobile would want to upgrade it to 5G at some point.

Yeah, congestion on T-Mobile can be really bad during the day downtown and in areas where there has been a lot of growth (think NoMA and H Street NE) but no corresponding upgrade in capacity.  I wonder if T-Mobile had been waiting to densify until after the merger completed.  There are spots where T-Mo has really done a good job upgrading, like the Shaw-U Street corridor, where I can easily pull 50-100Mbps even when it's crowded.

 

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22 minutes ago, runagun said:

Ahh my v50 was paid off.  If ur In a lease with your 5g phone you won't get the offer then. 

The offer also works for lease payments: https://www.cnet.com/news/t-mobile-to-redeploy-sprints-midband-5g-spectrum-in-new-york-in-may/

 

Quote
  • Those who currently own, lease or make payments on a 7 Pro 5G (256GB), S10 5G (256GB), V50 ThinQ (128GB) and are paying less than $10/mo. will get a Samsung Galaxy S20 5G for $0/mo. after $41.67/mo. credit with a new 18-month lease.
  • Those who currently lease or make payments on a 7 Pro 5G (256GB), S10 5G (256GB), V50 ThinQ (128GB) and are paying more than $10/mo. will get a Samsung Galaxy S20 5G for $10/mo. after $31.67/mo. credit with a new 18-month lease.
  • Those who purchased an HTC 5G Hub on an installment plan will get a credit of $12.50/mo. for the remainder of the term. If they purchased the hotspot outright, T-Mobile will give them a one-time credit of $300 applied to their bill.

 

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