Official Tmobile-Sprint merger discussion thread

[BlueAngel]

2 minutes ago, danlodish345 said:

I'm sad to see Sprint go.

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I'm not, bring on a better network.

[danlodish345]

I'm not, bring on a better network.

Well the only thing I have to say to that is only time will tell.

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[bigsnake49]

8 minutes ago, BlueAngel said:

I'm not, bring on a better network.

Now, there could be some transition pains. T-Mobile's network is oversold in some places and T-Mobile said that at some point they will transition all of Sprint's LTE customers off band 41 and onto the midband 4, 2 and 25. Now hopefully by that time they will have enough 5G coverage on the remaining 2.5Ghz spectrum and would have enough 5G phones and customers so that the midband does not become congested.

Edited November 16, 2018 by bigsnake49

[danlodish345]

Now, there could be some transition pains. T-Mobile's network is oversold in some places and T-Mobile said that at some point they will transition all of Sprint's LTE customers off band 41 and onto the midband and 4, 2 and 25. Now hopefully by that time they will have enough 5G coverage on the remaining 2.5Ghz spectrum and would have enough 5G phones and customers so that the midband does not become congested.

TMobile is definitely over sold where I live. They're so congested during the evening that I get deprioritized and I'm on postpaid. SO only when I see things and prove if this merger happens that I will start to believe things. I live by the attitude I'll believe it when I see it.

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[RedSpark]

T-Mobile is renovating its Bellevue HQ in anticipation of the merger: https://www.t-mobile.com/news/new-hq-remodel

$160 Million over 3 years.

Good times over T-Mobile....

[Johnner1999]

T-Mobile is renovating its Bellevue HQ in anticipation of the merger: https://www.t-mobile.com/news/new-hq-remodel
$160 Million over 3 years.
Good times over T-Mobile....

That’s what happens when you have a plan and can execute on it. And have customers....


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[Johnner1999]

T-Mobile is renovating its Bellevue HQ in anticipation of the merger: https://www.t-mobile.com/news/new-hq-remodel
$160 Million over 3 years.
Good times over T-Mobile....

Oh and I assume much of this is was a negotiation to renew their lease.




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[dro1984]

Looks like Sprint and T Mobile have been active around my house.   I see at least 3 new small cells that have going up in the last 2 weeks and are active.    I can pull a band 41 signal from 2 of them... the 3rd I'm assuming is Sprint  or T-Mo?   I'm not sure what the T-Mobile small cells look like.   Its very good to see progress.    Does anyone know if the small cells can broadcast more than one frequency?  Ie... if the merger is approved and T-Mo turns band 41 into 5G... then I assume I will not be able to pull that in with my Samsung 9+? 

[dkyeager]

2 hours ago, dro1984 said:

... if the merger is approved and T-Mo turns band 41 into 5G... then I assume I will not be able to pull that in with my Samsung 9+? 

Based on the earlier public released plans and interviews, that would be true on a market by market basis as the new T-Mobile converts B41 to 5G.  What is in the latest plans is anyone's guess.  Going to 5G would provide 100MHz wide carriers which would mean 5 times faster uploads before factoring in 5G speed improvements.  Could one radio handle all of the available B41 bandwidth that Sprint has in numerous cities (up to 8 or 9 20MHz carriers)? Rumors are the Sprint Massive MIMO radios can only handle 6 carriers for a total of 120MHz, but I could be wrong.   My understanding is also that T-Mobile small cells are all fiber fed which would free up bandwidth for phones.  T-Mobile would likely go for different radios hopefully covering the full 194Mhz since they would only want 5G support. 

In deals like the Shentel-nTelos and T-Mobile-Metro PCS the FCC has always had the firms either upgrade the firmware to support the new network or to give discounts for new phones.  Your voice will only be heard if you tell the FCC.  The FCC comment period is now open until early December.

If T-Mobile drops CDMA, then voice coverage will also be reduced given the vast range of 1x800. (I have observed it up to 50 miles away, but that is in rare cases).  In the Shentel-nTelos merger, LTE coverage was mandated to extend fully over all nTelos 3G coverage.  Once again this is something you should ask for. 

Another area of concern is VoLTE support.  I personally think Sprint will only offer it on phones it is currently selling.  Hopefully T-Mobile will go back to phones such as the LG V20 and have VoLTE support.  But always best to ask.

https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-18-1155A1.pdf

https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/filings?proceedings_name=18-197&sort=date_disseminated,DESC

[dkyeager]

Here is what I posted:

FCC conditions should include:

1) Upgrade the smartphones firmware to support the new T-Mobile network or to give discounts for new phones as was done with the Shentel-nTelos and T-Mobile-Metro PCS mergers.  This should include support for all bands and VoLTE if previously certified by the FCC.  For example the LG V20 has VoLTE support which should be enabled by firmware for the new T-Mobile Network.

2) VoLTE coverage should be extended to fully cover the 1x800 CDMA range currently covered by Sprint.  I have seen it as far as 50 miles from the originating site, but that is a rare exception.  In the Shentel-nTelos merger, LTE coverage was mandated to extend fully over all nTelos 3G coverage.

 

3)  Given its more limited building penetration and shorter range, band 41 coverage should be considered on its own and not be allowed to be reduced in terms of quality.  Sprint has band 41 only sites in many metropolitan areas which provide service to areas poorly covered by other bands.  For example, CB52XC033 at 2837 Dublin Rd, Columbus OH provides up to 100Mbps coverage to my home, while B25 is often around 5Mbps, and B26 is in the 3G range. The 205ft  (about 160ft for the RRUs) height of the tower help to reach into nearby ravine areas.

4) Many small towns could use the increased capacity of multiple cell sites on opposite edges of the town.

5) I encourage the FCC to preserve the integrity of the MNVOs without cutting into the b41 spectrum of the new T-Mobile and to factor in all other purchased/leased spectrum in the MM bands by all carriers in any spectrum screen calculations.

 

S4Gru members should note that the above site number was personally observed during a site upgrade.

 

[red_dog007]

If there is a merger, I hope Sprint customers can go out and get non Sprint phones fairly soon.  Being able to go out and get OnePlus would be great.

[Thomas L.]

4 hours ago, red_dog007 said:

If there is a merger, I hope Sprint customers can go out and get non Sprint phones fairly soon.  Being able to go out and get OnePlus would be great.

Yes, and that I can use non-Sprint approved phones that are compatible with Sprint. I have one that's totally compatible from China but can't be used. 

[bigsnake49]

10 hours ago, Thomas L. said:

Yes, and that I can use non-Sprint approved phones that are compatible with Sprint. I have one that's totally compatible from China but can't be used. 

That is the biggest irritant when it comes to Sprint.. Oh it's not a Sprint branded phone. It's not going to work even if it has all the frequencies. Sprint should die just for that sin.

[nexgencpu]

I believe GM being in a bind and laying off nearly 15k employees might have an adverse affect on this being approved.

Also, it's clear that ATT has fully taken advantage of owning Time Warner by forcing competition to essentially remove certain content (HBO and a few others) this also does not bold well for big M&A deals in 2019.

Especially since this administrations whole schtick is big corp jobs.

[BlueAngel]

1 hour ago, nexgencpu said:

I believe GM being in a bind and laying off nearly 15k employees might have an adverse affect on this being approved.

Also, it's clear that ATT has fully taken advantage of owning Time Warner by forcing competition to essentially remove certain content (HBO and a few others) this also does not bold well for big M&A deals in 2019.

Especially since this administrations whole schtick is big corp jobs.

I don't see it being a problem.

[utiz4321]

1 hour ago, nexgencpu said:

I believe GM being in a bind and laying off nearly 15k employees might have an adverse affect on this being approved.

Also, it's clear that ATT has fully taken advantage of owning Time Warner by forcing competition to essentially remove certain content (HBO and a few others) this also does not bold well for big M&A deals in 2019.

Especially since this administrations whole schtick is big corp jobs.

Not going to have anything to do with Sprint /T-Mobile. Different industries and the fact that GM can't sell their cars doesn't mean much in the overall economic picture by itself. 

[tyroned3222]

Not going to have anything to do with Sprint /T-Mobile. Different industries and the fact that GM can't sell their cars doesn't mean much in the overall economic picture by itself. 

So, everyone is supposed to just be cool that many jobs could be lost because of this merger ?


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[nexgencpu]

13 minutes ago, utiz4321 said:

Not going to have anything to do with Sprint /T-Mobile. Different industries and the fact that GM can't sell their cars doesn't mean much in the overall economic picture by itself. 

Consolidation leads to jobs lost. Considering he will be up for re-election in the upcoming year, losing thousands more jobs will not help his cause.

[derrph]

The more this merger drags on the more I feel a way about it. Yes all mergers lead to some kind of job loss. But I feel like both Sprint and T-mobile will keep all or most jobs but then lay off a crap ton  after the network settles.  Outside of that with all the new submitted docs it seems like every other week, makes me think that both companies don't know their sole reason is for them to merge. It was 5G and now is to keep up with Verizon and AT&T.

The way things look now from a pricing perspective, the difference between them are a few dollars. Sprint still has a pricing edge in some ways.

[red_dog007]

You guys forget VZW is talking about laying off 3x higher number than GM? That business is way more inline than the car industry. VZW wants to be at almost 100k employees, almost 50% of the number of employees they had back in 2007. But I'd imagine that there are a lot of hidden people behind contract companies. 

If Sprint/TMobile promise job creation, and the merger gets approved, whoever is in office can say "we were promised" if New-TMobile does massive layoffs and deflect blame from the government to the company.  "We approved this merger cause we were promised thousands of new jobs. This company lied and should be punished!!!" Now New-TMobile is the villain and really have no defense other than staying silent.  Though, unless these things are in writing... which is always overlooked.  

 

On the job growth, During the consolidation there will be job losses.  But over this time period there will also be loads of new work consolidating the company.  This will be a boom for contract companies. These numbers are always hidden from corporate numbers. The amount of CAPEX is going to stay the same (combined) if not increase even more.  But a combined company I think in the long term could have better job growth. Both companies have business lines the others do not have. I think long term a combined company has greater ability and potential to be much larger than what they can do on their own. Become a larger force like VZW or AT&T as a whole.  Have greater buying power or interest in acquisitions to fledge out other lines of business.  Ultimately lead into stronger job growth then these companies can achieve on their own directly (corp jobs) and indirectly (contract jobs/work).  

From 2013-2017 both companies combined have gone from 78k to 81k employees.  Sprint has already done the major axing of employees, being 25% less than where they were in 2011.  And TMobile has been at basically zero employee growth the last 3 years.

 

Not that I agree or disagree with the merger.  Just straight out the gate, lot of new work will be needed.  CAPEX will still be up so covers all new deployments, upgrades across all bands, 5G deployments, etc. There will be loads of tower consolidations, etc. A laid off job in a corp store might be replaced with a new job somewhere else. Long term, things could get interesting with continued growth in wireless, new lines of business, old lines of business. But then a lot of retail jobs could get nixed that won't be accounted for in official numbers cause everyone is a dealer. Or things could just go utterly sideways. 

[Johnner1999]

My assumption is that Tmo and sprint claim job growth due to entering two new vertical spots: TV service and home fixed internet via 5g.





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[dkyeager]

This merger is a growth play more than just cost savings.  Verizon is just doing what Sprint has already done is terms of cost cuts.  However Verizon is different in that they are trying to preserve their margins. 

With a far better cost structure for the new T-Mobile (depending on FCC conditions), the question will be if the merger is handled successfully, which is then what will really determine job gains or losses.  The competition will not stand still while the new T-Mobile gets itself organized and motivated. Some of the new ideas will fail.  How quickly do to they adjust will be key.  Just because something has been tried before does not mean that it can not be successful now, for timing is everything in business.

[utiz4321]

2 hours ago, nexgencpu said:

Consolidation leads to jobs lost. Considering he will be up for re-election in the upcoming year, losing thousands more jobs will not help his cause.

Jobs are being lost all the time. The jobs numbers you see reported are NET.  That means minus jobs lost plus jobs added. 

[utiz4321]

2 hours ago, tyroned3222 said:

So, everyone is supposed to just be cool that many jobs could be lost because of this merger ?


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I don't know what you mean. It is business. GM is paying for bad strategic decisions. And if these employees are to lose their jobs now is the best time in the past 20 years for them to do so. The economy is adding manufacturing jobs like crazy. 

[nexgencpu]

23 minutes ago, utiz4321 said:

I don't know what you mean. It is business. GM is paying for bad strategic decisions. And if these employees are to lose their jobs now is the best time in the past 20 years for them to do so. The economy is adding manufacturing jobs like crazy. 

Nice spin..LOL