Official Tmobile-Sprint merger discussion thread

[danlodish345]

TMobile needs to really expand coverage.

By that time all of sprints roaming will be handle by tmo.. hoping by that time tmo would have services in these areas

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[danlodish345]

By that time all of sprints roaming will be handle by tmo.. hoping by that time tmo would have services in these areas

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I can definitely tell you in South Jersey TMobile needs to really densify and span coverage

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[Thomas L.]

48 minutes ago, danlodish345 said:

The only question I figure is what is going to happen to Sprint customers when Verizon shuts down CDMA altogether. I think they may try to Kabul some type of Lte roaming agreement but I don't know.

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This is the reason that I think Sprint has been forced to move forward with VoLTE even though I don't know that the network coverage is really there - without it they won't be able to ensure voice outside of their paltry LTE coverage area because CDMA roaming will be unavailable. They have to build out the IMS backend and get it set up so they're ready. VoLTE roaming should work on T-Mobile.

[dkyeager]

59 minutes ago, danlodish345 said:

The only question I figure is what is going to happen to Sprint customers when Verizon shuts down CDMA altogether. I think they may try to Kabul some type of Lte roaming agreement but I don't know.

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Sprint has already answered that with their rural partners, AT&T roaming and now T-Mobile roaming.  Often limited to 3G speeds.

[danlodish345]

This is the reason that I think Sprint has been forced to move forward with VoLTE even though I don't know that the network coverage is really there - without it they won't be able to ensure voice outside of their paltry LTE coverage area because CDMA roaming will be unavailable. They have to build out the IMS backend and get it set up so they're ready. VoLTE roaming should work on T-Mobile.

Well I can definitely tell you hear that T-Mobile's LTE coverage makes Sprint look like a pipsqueak in terms of coverage and overall consistency with coverage speed reliability and quality. But along the main highways Sprint is just fine. If Sprint has any hope of competing even against T-Mobile they need to really bolster their coverage.

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[danlodish345]

Sprint has already answered that with their rural partners, At&T roaming and now T-Mobile roaming.  Often limited to 3G speeds.

I'm not very knowledgeable with Sprint and the roaming agreements and the details. Is it still a capped data package?

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[dkyeager]

2 minutes ago, danlodish345 said:

I'm not very knowledgeable with Sprint and the roaming agreements and the details. Is it still a capped data package?

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Yes, capped and you can not buy more.  300MB for old ED1500 plans, 100MB for current (per month).

[danlodish345]

Yes, capped and you can not buy more.  300MB for old ED1500 plans, 100MB for current (per month).

That's to be expected ...but hey I don't rather have some data then none at all...

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[dkyeager]

Just now, danlodish345 said:

That's to be expected ...but hey I don't rather have some data then none at all...

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I would rather have them offer to sell you more - - at the highest rates they pay plus a percentage. Else allow you to rollover some - this way you would have some saved up for vacations.  Educating users about navigation systems with local or saved maps would also help reduce roaming overall.

[danlodish345]

I would rather have them offer to sell you more - - at the highest rates they pay plus a percentage. Else allow you to rollover some - this way you would have some saved up for vacations.  Educating users about navigation systems with local or saved maps would also help reduce roaming overall.

That's a good model to... because the carrier won't lose a ton of money and the user is forced to pay It...

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[dkyeager]

2 minutes ago, danlodish345 said:

That's a good model to... because the carrier won't lose a ton of money and the user is forced to pay It...

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The roaming aspect may be one reason T-Mobile is talking about keeping the Sprint brand around. Sprint and T-Mobile also have a significant number of dissatisfied customers of the other carrier.  Over time I expect it will be only T-Mobile.

[kct1975]

According to Verizon Enterprise, they will no longer support non-LTE devices after 12/31/19, period. AT&T shut down GSM over a year ago, there's no reason Verizon won't do the same with CDMA. 

The only question I figure is what is going to happen to Sprint customers when Verizon shuts down CDMA altogether. I think they may try to Kabul some type of Lte roaming agreement but I don't know.

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By that time all of sprints roaming will be handle by tmo.. hoping by that time tmo would have services in these areas

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Just a quick question about the discussion of shutting down CDMA...

What about Feature Phones (Dumb Phones)?

Right now my 81 years old father is using a Flip phone. Multiple times I have tried to get him to switch to a Smart phone [emoji336]... even a Samsung in Easy Mode, and he flatly refuses.

Is if CDMA is completely shut down by Sprint and Verizon, and T-Mobile and AT&T no longer support GSM, the will there be Flip Phones or Feature Phones that will work on LTE or 5G, or will my father be forced to use a Smartphone.

Personally I am thinking that the complete shut down of CDMA and GSM will be the final death of Flip Phones and Feature Phones.

What are your thoughts?

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[belusnecropolis]

24 minutes ago, kct1975 said:

Just a quick question about the discussion of shutting down CDMA...

What about Feature Phones (Dumb Phones)?

Right now my 81 years old father is using a Flip phone. Multiple times I have tried to get him to switch to a Smart phone ... even a Samsung in Easy Mode, and he flatly refuses.

Is if CDMA is completely shut down by Sprint and Verizon, and T-Mobile and AT&T no longer support GSM, the will there be Flip Phones or Feature Phones that will work on LTE or 5G, or will my father be forced to use a Smartphone.

Personally I am thinking that the complete shut down of CDMA and GSM will be the final death of Flip Phones and Feature Phones.

What are your thoughts?

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voLTE flips have been out for a year or so now.

[danlodish345]

3 hours ago, belusnecropolis said:

voLTE flips have been out for a year or so now.

i completely agree with you...i saw a volte flip phone in a verizon store just last year...so flip phones are hear to stay...

[Paynefanbro]

9 minutes ago, danlodish345 said:

i completely agree with you...i saw a volte flip phone in a verizon store just last year...so flip phones are hear to stay...

The feature phone market grew over the last year while smartphone sales shrank. Emerging markets are still purchasing flip phones at a high rate thanks to things like KaiOS offering smartphone features in them. Google has invested in KaiOS so now even flip phones have Google Assistant built in.

[kct1975]

i completely agree with you...i saw a volte flip phone in a verizon store just last year...so flip phones are hear to stay...

The feature phone market grew over the last year while smartphone sales shrank. Emerging markets are still purchasing flip phones at a high rate thanks to things like KaiOS offering smartphone features in them. Google has invested in KaiOS so now even flip phones have Google Assistant built in.

Okay [emoji108]

Thanks for the information...

My only concern, with regards to my father, is whether or not there will continue being phones that only phones, and don't have a Smartphone OS.

As I mentioned, my 81 year old father absolutely does not want to have any sort of Smartphone.

While I do see at least one model of Feature Phone (Dumb phone) currently on the Sprint site, and the AT&T site, my thinking is that by next year or by 2020, the only devices will be Smartphones.

If that is the case, are there any Simple Smartphones that I could cripple by removing apps and disabling apps?

At your convenience, please let me know your thoughts [emoji189]

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[danlodish345]

The feature phone market grew over the last year while smartphone sales shrank. Emerging markets are still purchasing flip phones at a high rate thanks to things like KaiOS offering smartphone features in them. Google has invested in KaiOS so now even flip phones have Google Assistant built in.

Now that's intuitive right there

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[belusnecropolis]

Rugged flips will be around for a long time frens.

[Dkoellerwx]

21 hours ago, danlodish345 said:

I'm not very knowledgeable with Sprint and the roaming agreements and the details. Is it still a capped data package?

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21 hours ago, dkyeager said:

Yes, capped and you can not buy more.  300MB for old ED1500 plans, 100MB for current (per month).

Capped at 100MB for AT&T LTE roaming. Unlimited for all other LTE roaming partners. 

[dkyeager]

11 minutes ago, Dkoellerwx said:

 

Capped at 100MB for AT&T LTE roaming. Unlimited for all other LTE roaming partners. 

I believe your 100Mb is the limits of the plan, ie 100MB for most, 300MB for ED1500, and 800MB for some very old SERO plans. This limit would also apply to Verizon and I think to some independent roaming sites.  All of these are individual deals so if the phone shows roaming I would assume it is going against your roaming allowance.

[Dkoellerwx]

29 minutes ago, dkyeager said:

I believe your 100Mb is the limits of the plan, ie 100MB for most, 300MB for ED1500, and 800MB for some very old SERO plans. This limit would also apply to Verizon and I think to some independent roaming sites.  All of these are individual deals so if the phone shows roaming I would assume it is going against your roaming allowance.

Yes, some older plans still have higher roaming limits, but the vast majority have been adjusted now to 100MB. 

The roaming bucket applies solely to AT&T LTE, and Verizon 3G. I am not aware of any other roaming agreements outside of the extended partners. 

If you are on any of the extended networks, USCC, T-Mobile, NexTech, Pioneer, Appalachian, etc., you are unlimited. The phone will show roaming on all of these networks, but data usage will not count against your roaming bucket. 

[red_dog007]

On 9/5/2018 at 11:54 AM, brockeb1 said:

That's a great question....however, a year from now 1x/CDMA will no longer exist on Verizon as they will be the first pure LTE network after they shut down 3G. Should make their current roaming agreements very interesting.

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This is true.  It will be interesting.  I go less places that are VZW, but they exist.  All these places look to have ATT LTE, so new roaming agreements could still be had. 

 

Also, it'll be interesting to see what VZW does after CDMA is shut down for their standard customers.  Select customers will continue to have CMDA services until 12/31/2022.  So Sprint could potentially be a customer for these continued services.  But VZW could be doing it in such a way they could still also shutdown CDMA on towers, so they still still operate CDMA for 3 more years, but the coverage could still shrink.  

[Thomas L.]

So it seems to be that T-Mobile roaming has been primarily rolled out in areas where VoLTE is launching. Has anyone seen it in none VoLTE areas? I had an interesting experience in the LA Metro market - my phone locked onto T-Mobile roaming ("Clearwire Band 4") and would not let go even when I cycled airplane mode in an area with Sprint. I thought that was interesting - the roaming agreement must be extremely favorable to Sprint/have basically no cost to them.

[bigsnake49]

5 hours ago, Thomas L. said:

So it seems to be that T-Mobile roaming has been primarily rolled out in areas where VoLTE is launching. Has anyone seen it in none VoLTE areas? I had an interesting experience in the LA Metro market - my phone locked onto T-Mobile roaming ("Clearwire Band 4") and would not let go even when I cycled airplane mode in an area with Sprint. I thought that was interesting - the roaming agreement must be extremely favorable to Sprint/have basically no cost to them.

I wish we had T-Mobile roaming enabled. T-mobile is usually 3-6dBs better than Sprint inside my condo. Out and about Sprint is really decent but then so is everybody else. When it comes to 1x, since it is on 1x800, Sprint has great coverage. It seems that they have not added band 26 on all of the sites in my market.

[belusnecropolis]

They are turning up the bandwidth here. L850 on every site, they added band 2 6 months ago at 5MHz. Just for kicks Saturday I checked the site in town. It is at 10MHz and HSPA was no show until I approached the next macro.