Marcelo Claure, Town Hall Meetings, New Family Share Pack Plan, Unlimited Individual Plan, Discussion Thread

[RedSpark]

I think it has to stay at or above 8 for like 150 days or something?

 

Yup.

 

http://www.kansascity.com/news/business/article30751155.html

 

 

 

Specifically, Sprint’s stock price would need to average $8 “over any 150-day period during a four-year term from June 1, 2015, through May 31, 2019.”

 

[RedSpark]

Back to Toyko he goes....

 

https://twitter.com/marceloclaure/status/811486352554463232

 

"Exciting Times Ahead."

[tybo31316]

Back to Toyko he goes....

 

https://twitter.com/marceloclaure/status/811486352554463232

 

"Exciting Times Ahead."

Please come back with the funding to add 8t8r's to every Sprint site on their network.

[Tengen31]

Please come back with the funding to add 8t8r's to every Sprint site on their network.

Band 41 already has that. When more sites get B41 they also get that

 

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[tybo31316]

Band 41 already has that. When more sites get B41 they also get that

 

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That's what I was stating. There's a lot of sites without band 41. I've been to cities that has a density band 41 network and Sprint competes toe to toe with any network when band 41 with multiple carriers are online.

[RedSpark]

That's what I was stating. There's a lot of sites without band 41. I've been to cities that has a density band 41 network and Sprint competes toe to toe with any network when band 41 with multiple carriers are online.

 

Gunther said this during the AMA:

 

70% of our LTE sites have 2.5GHz. We are doing both. A lot of parallel work going on here as you can see...

 

Still quite some way to go.

[JWMaloney]

Gunther said this during the AMA:

 

 

Still quite some way to go.

 

It's a misleading statistic because there are thousands of LTE sites which only have band 41. Subtract all the Clearwire dual-mode and conversion sites, and the number is a lot lower.

[RedSpark]

It's a misleading statistic because there are thousands of LTE sites which only have band 41. Subtract all the Clearwire dual-mode and conversion sites, and the number is a lot lower.

 

Wow. Didn't consider that as a possibility.

 

Hopefully Sprint makes more progress on Band 41 deployment in 2017. Is this due to limited capital expenditures for this Quarter? I thought that limited CapEx was mainly due to permitting delays for small cell deployments.

 

Now it sounds like it was due to addressing high interest Clearwire Debt based on this chart: http://investors.sprint.com/financials/default.aspx

 

Here's what I don't get: Sprint has additional liquidity and funding vehicles available besides the Handset Leasing Company and the Network Leasing Company. Why don't they take advantage of those too?

 

These are discussed on Page 17: Fiscal 2Q 2016 Investor Update

 

Total liquidity was $11.3 billion at the end of the quarter, including $5.7 billion of cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments. Additionally, the company also has $1.1 billion of availability under vendor financing agreements that can be used toward the purchase of 2.5GHz network equipment. On October 20th, the company priced $3.5 billion of spectrum-backed senior secured notes at 3.36 percent, which is less than half of the company’s current effective interest rate. This transaction represents the latest example of Sprint’s strategy to diversify its sources of financing, lower its cost of capital, and reduce future interest expenses by retiring upcoming maturities with higher coupon payments. In conjunction with closing of the spectrum-backed notes, which is expected on October 27th, the company’s $2.5 billion unsecured financing facility will terminate.

[jamesinclair]

Y'all being greedy asking for your tower to be spruced up. Still lots of areas with very poor tower spacing

[tybo31316]

Y'all being greedy asking for your tower to be spruced up. Still lots of areas with very poor tower spacing

Not our towers. More band 41 market wide. I can assure you that in my city. Sprint is dead last in coverage and speed. I'm sure my city isn't the only city in America that's experiencing this. Sprint needs to focus on the markets it serves currently. Make sure they are all upgraded before they could even thing about expanding coverage into new markets.

[JWMaloney]

Hopefully Sprint makes more progress on Band 41 deployment in 2017. Is this due to limited capital expenditures for this Quarter? I thought that limited CapEx was mainly due to permitting delays for small cell deployments.

 

Sprint was required by US authorities to remove all Huawei equipment from its network (more info). With payments coming due on the Clearwire debt, most of the new band 41 equipment went directly into Clearwire conversions to replace the Huawei gear. This further confounds the "70% of our LTE sites" figure.

 

That said, Sprint has stated multiple times that they are taking a more "surgical" approach to network planning. They are not going to add band 41 macro equipment to every Network Vision site; rather, they are targeting specific sites which need additional capacity the most.

[RedSpark]

Sprint was required by US authorities to remove all Huawei equipment from its network (more info). With payments coming due on the Clearwire debt, most of the new band 41 equipment went directly into Clearwire conversions to replace the Huawei gear. This further confounds the "70% of our LTE sites" figure.

 

That said, Sprint has stated multiple times that they are taking a more "surgical" approach to network planning. They are not going to add band 41 macro equipment to every Network Vision site; rather, they are targeting specific sites which need additional capacity the most.

 

You make a great point here about that 70% figure.

 

I can understand prioritizing the sites which need capacity the most first, but is there a plan to add Band 41 to every macro tower site eventually? Otherwise, we're basically looking at Band 25 (with CA eventually) and Band 26. Data usage is only increasing, and if Sprint has appreciable network adds, it'll need the additional capacity of Band 41 across all of its sites across the country.

[chamb]

 

 

That said, Sprint has stated multiple times that they are taking a more "surgical" approach to network planning. They are not going to add band 41 macro equipment to every Network Vision site; rather, they are targeting specific sites which need additional capacity the most.

This is exactly what they should be doing.  Add B-41 to a site if it needs it.  If the site is rural low density type, add B-41 later if the traffic picks up and B25 & 26 get congested.

[lilotimz]

This is exactly what they should be doing. Add B-41 to a site if it needs it. If the site is rural low density type, add B-41 later if the traffic picks up and B25 & 26 get congested.

Sprint was required by US authorities to remove all Huawei equipment from its network (more info). With payments coming due on the Clearwire debt, most of the new band 41 equipment went directly into Clearwire conversions to replace the Huawei gear. This further confounds the "70% of our LTE sites" figure.

 

That said, Sprint has stated multiple times that they are taking a more "surgical" approach to network planning. They are not going to add band 41 macro equipment to every Network Vision site; rather, they are targeting specific sites which need additional capacity the most.

Mini macro 2.5s will be added to rural and suburban macro towers instead of 8t8r for cost savings and the fact they don't need that much capacity in such places. Mini macros on such towers (like the Huawei Nokia conversions) will be replaced with 8t8r or new macro technologies as the local need arises.

 

Mini macro B26/41 will be used a lot for coverage and capacity expansions in suburban and rural zones.

 

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[RedSpark]

Mini macro 2.5s will be added to rural and suburban macro towers instead of 8t8r for cost savings and the fact they don't need that much capacity in such places. Mini macros on such towers (like the Huawei Nokia conversions) will be replaced with 8t8r or new macro technologies as the local need arises.

 

Mini macro B26/41 will be used a lot coverage and capacity expansions in suburban and rural zones.

 

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How much of a cost savings is there, especially given the higher propagation of signal from 8T8R antennas on Macro Sites vs. the Mini Macro 2.5s?

[lilotimz]

How much of a cost savings is there, especially given the higher propagation of signal from 8T8R antennas on Macro Sites vs. the Mini Macro 2.5s?

 

You can buy several all in one mini macros or picos for the cost of just the 8T8R antennas. 

[RedSpark]

You can buy several all in one mini macros or picos for the cost of just the 8T8R antennas. 

 

And the coverage with the Mini Macros is roughly equivalent as a result?

[lilotimz]

And the coverage with the Mini Macros is roughly equivalent as a result?

 

No. They're a method of bringing additional capacity and coverage without breaking the bank. You get what you pay for. 

[RedSpark]

No. They're a method of bringing additional capacity and coverage without breaking the bank. You get what you pay for. 

 

How much of a capacity/coverage difference is there between an 8T8R vs. a set of Mini-Macros as you described?

[caspar347]

No. They're a method of bringing additional capacity and coverage without breaking the bank. You get what you pay for.

Are y'all talking about cost per square mile of coverage or coverage per unit? Is it possible to cover the same area with $3mil of 8T8Rs or $3mil of mini macros? I assume no, but I wanna make sure I'm reading everything right.

 

Edit: ninja'd

[RedSpark]

Are y'all talking about cost per square mile of coverage or coverage per unit? Is it possible to cover the same area with $3mil of 8T8Rs or $3mil of mini macros? I assume no, but I wanna make sure I'm reading everything right.

 

Right. That's what I'm asking about. If there's a difference in cost and/or coverage, I'm curious to know how much.

[lilotimz]

How much of a capacity/coverage difference is there between an 8T8R vs. a set of Mini-Macros as you described?

 

10-20% performance decrease (8T8R vs 2T2R), 120 MHz vs 40 MHz. 

 

Are y'all talking about cost per square mile of coverage or coverage per unit? Is it possible to cover the same area with $3mil of 8T8Rs or $3mil of mini macros? I assume no, but I wanna make sure I'm reading everything right. Edit: ninja'd

 

 

Right. That's what I'm asking about. If there's a difference in cost and/or coverage, I'm curious to know how much.

 

3x 8T8R antennas + 3x 8T8R radios + 1x hybrid fiber cable + 1x base station & associated peripherals + 1x B41 LTE DU + backhaul = macro 8T8R site.

 

3x standard 2T2R sector antennas + 3x AIO mini macros + 1x hybrid fiber cable +  backhaul + router = "mini" macro 2.5 site. 

[RedSpark]

10-20% performance decrease (8T8R vs 2T2R), 120 MHz vs 40 MHz. 

 

 

 

 

3x 8T8R ($$$$ ea) antennas + 3x 8T8R radios ($$$$)+ 1x hybrid fiber cable ($$$)+ 1x base station & associated peripherals ($$$$)+ 1x B41 LTE DU ($$$)+ backhaul ($$$$)= macro 8T8R site.

 

3x standard 2T2R sector antennas ($$$ ea) + 3x AIO mini macros ($$$$)+ 1x hybrid fiber cable ($$$) +  backhaul ($$$$) = "mini" macro 2.5 site. 

 

Very helpful cost-breakdown info on this. Thanks.

 

Is there a resulting sunk cost for the installed Mini-Macro build if it's going to be replaced with 8T8R one day?

 

Or could the installed Mini Macros be replaced, reclaimed, repurposed and moved into new locations as the Macro sites are ultimately upgraded to 8T8R?

[lilotimz]

Very helpful cost-breakdown info on this. Thanks.

 

Is there a resulting sunk cost for the installed Mini-Macro build if it's going to be replaced with 8T8R one day?

 

Or could the installed Mini Macros be replaced, reclaimed, repurposed and moved into new locations as the Macro sites are ultimately upgraded to 8T8R?

 

 

- Mini macros can be reused as stand alone sites attached to a light pole or a wooden pole etc. Just attach power + backhaul + an antenna (omni can / sector panel) and you're ready to go. 

[RedSpark]

- Mini macros can be reused as stand alone sites attached to a light pole or a wooden pole etc. Just attach power + backhaul + an antenna (omni can / sector panel) and you're ready to go. 

 

Pretty cool. Thanks for the info on that.