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  1. S4GRU
    by Robert Herron
    Sprint 4G Rollout Updates
    Tuesday, June 19, 2012 - 6:35 PM MDT
     
    Whether you call it the District, DC or simply Washington doesn't much matter. Soon we will be able to call it a Sprint 4G LTE city. The next market in our Network Vision/LTE deployment schedule update series is...Washington, D.C.. This market has not been announced by Sprint, but appears to be on the way for a late August launch.
     
    The Sprint Washington DC market covers all of the District Columbia, and the Maryland and Virginia DC suburbs. Sprint's Network Vision OEM Alcatel/Lucent has been actively deploying in the Washington DC market since March and is making good progress. As of this week, there are approximately 50 Network Vision sites that have completed upgrades. These sites are located throughout the market. Mostly in D.C. and the Maryland side, but sites are now starting to come live on the Virginia side.
     

    Network Vision Sites in the Washington DC market. Approximately fifty Network Vision sites are complete in the market.


     
    Market Launch and Remaining Schedule
     
    It was Sprint's original plan to launch markets when they reached 50% of sites converted to Network Vision. However, it has now been determined that Sprint will move up launches sooner than 50% completion in several markets. This is likely to maintain a Mid 2012 launch in markets that have already been announced. However, in an unannounced market like DC, we don't know if they will resume pushing back market launches to 50%, or if they will now settle on a 30% - 40% completion to be the new normal for market launches.
     
    If Sprint waits for 50% completion to launch the DC market, it would make the launch month to be September (should AlcaLu stay on schedule). That being said, if Sprint should launch around the third week of August (as we suspect), then the market would be less than 50% complete. This doesn't sound like enough, but it would provide pretty good coverage. Even Verizon doesn't launch on all sites in a market initially. Usually less than 50%, then filling in with more and more sites every few months.
     




    Anticipated Sites Complete at Market Launch. According to the Network Vision schedules that S4GRU has reviewed, if Sprint launched the market in late August, these are the anticipated sites that would likely have LTE complete at that time. This would provide fairly good LTE coverage over many parts of the market.


     
    Sprint is not reporting any of these live Network Vision sites in the DC market as currently broadcasting 4G LTE, only 3G EVDO. According to the NV schedule, these should have started coming online in May with LTE. However, none have shown up as LTE active to date. This most likely means that either the backhaul is not quite ready to service 4G LTE, or the 4G cores that these sites are tied to are not quite ready for LTE traffic. A huge backlog of LTE sites will probably come online in this market suddenly when the network is ready.
     
    The bottom line...
     
    We currently do not have a date that Sprint will formally "launch" the Washington DC market. We believe they are targeting a launch month of August based on reports internally within Sprint. However, after reviewing the schedule, it may actually pan out to be late August or the first of September. Sprint will likely announce a launch date for this market, and a few others like Austin, Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles around the time of the first launch.
     
    Sprint's schedule for this market currently has 50 Network Vision sites complete. Alcatel/Lucent is continuing to progress and is planning to increase the production rate up to 100 sites per month from here forward. This seems like an impossible production rate to us.
     
    S4GRU has examined the schedule in great detail in this market and sees that most of the sites will be complete by January 2013. However, there are several sites that will linger past the completion. In our estimation of the schedule, AlcaLu is currently right on time, but may have issues meeting this rate identified in Sprint's schedule.
     




    Photo of Washington, D.C. provided courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.


     

    NOTE: S4GRU Sponsor Members can track regular updates of
    Network Vision sites completed nationwide. Completed sites are shown in an interactive Google Maps interface. Information about sponsorship can be found here: S4GRU Sponsorship

  2. S4GRU
    by Robert Herron
    Sprint 4G Rollout Updates
    Thursday, July 10, 2014 - 1:30 PM MDT
     
    A few months back, Sprint announced new group partnerships with members of the CCA (Competitive Carriers Association) to expand the availability of Sprint LTE availability in many places across the country outside Sprint service areas. Additionally, Sprint has recently formed a subgroup of current/future LTE providers of the CCA that is referred to as the Rural Roaming Preferred Program (RRPP). Announcing such a deal with nTelos in May, and nearly another dozen in June.
     
    Sprint is part of the over-arching CCA, and working with its large membership group to establish a national LTE roaming group. However, where the action is happening now is with the Rural Roaming Preferred Program. RRPP members are joining a specific Sprint alliance which gives them more direct access to Sprint, their vendors, technology, devices and most importantly…Sprint’s vast spectrum holdings.
     
    As it has been explained to us, CCA members who are not a part of Sprint’s RRRP program are using their own spectrum and resources. Current disclosed members of the RRRP are regional and rural providers nTelos, C-Spire Wireless, SouthernLINC Wireless, Nex-Tech Wireless, Carolina West Wireless, VTel Wireless, Flat Wireless, MobileNation/SI Wireless, Inland Cellular, Illinois Valley Cellular, James Valley Telecommunications and Phoenix Wireless. There are more currently in discussion. Some speculate US Cellular will be announced soon, but we have not been able to confirm that.
     
    The news of the CCA and RRPP partnerships was well received by Sprint customers and members of the S4GRU community. Our members have been stoked at this announcement for months. Craving more details. When is this going to happen? Where, exactly? And the most important question to our readers has been, ‘how will the service be treated…native or roaming?’
     
    In press conferences, news releases and media coverage, it is often being referred to as “LTE roaming” deals. When people see the term roaming, they immediately conjure up ideas of monthly limits or added expenses. For instance, most Sprint postpaid plans currently limit their 1xRTT and 3G EVDO data roaming to only 100MB or 300MB per month. That’s not very much. So many of our members at S4GRU have wondered whether these “LTE roaming” deals would count against current very limited roaming allotments, or if something more generous would be provided on partner LTE networks. This has been the source of some anxiety to our members who want to be excited about this, but want to understand the full impact to their usage behaviors.
     
    Drum roll, please…
     
    We recently have received verification from a Sprint executive, who will remain anonymous, that the coverage with the RRPP providers will be treated as native. Fully native. When you are on these rural partner networks, it will be like you are on your Sprint LTE coverage and all your normal account usages will be allowed.
     
    If you have a 1GB data plan with Sprint. Your usage on these other networks counts against your 1GB monthly allotment. And if you have an unlimited plan on Sprint, you can use unlimited smartphone data on these rural partner networks.
     
    The executive said the point of these new coverages is to provide a seamless customer experience travelling from Sprint LTE coverage into these new rural partner coverage areas. To feel like they are on the Sprint network. And maybe even better in many instances given the lightly used rural nature of this additional coverage. They want Sprint customers, and in turn rural partner customers on the Sprint network, to enjoy a cohesive and expanded national LTE footprint. Something that makes them more competitive with the duopoly.
     
    Some of these rural partners already have their own operating LTE networks on varied spectrum holdings. And others are counting on Sprint spectrum to host their LTE networks or supplement them. We are told that existing LTE networks from these RRPP members on frequencies that current Sprint LTE devices support should be open as soon as logistically possible. Maybe even this summer. They continue to work out some network bugs and billing/authentication issues. Additional LTE frequencies in Band 4 and Band 12 are anticipated to be added to new upcoming devices at the end of this year or early next year and will add even more mileage.
     
    This is great news for Sprint customers. This will open up a lot more LTE coverage. Upon full implementation, the coverage will be quite expansive in square miles. When other CCA partner providers coverage comes online, Sprint should be able to handily eclipse AT&T’s LTE network coverage. Which has recently been purported to be mothballed by AT&T, with no timelines in place to restart. We currently do not know the details of VoLTE (Voice over LTE) on these partner networks. But a VTel Wireless executive did mention recently in a Fierce Wireless article that they were deploying VoLTE themselves. Sprint has been very mum on their VoLTE plans internally or through partners.
     
    We currently do not know if the LTE coverage that is provided by CCA members outside the RRPP will be counted as native the same way. Though T-Mobile is a member of the CCA, they are not a member of Sprint’s RRPP. So Sprint and its customers may see some unique advantages in both off network usage being counted as native and the availability of many more spectrum bands and more coverage than other standard CCA members experience.
     
    We excitedly watch and discuss the progress in S4GRU forums. Stay tuned.
     
     
     
    CCA Partners Sprint referenced this past March:
  3. S4GRU
    by Robert Herron
    Sprint 4G Rollout Updates
    Saturday, July 14, 2012 - 8:46 AM MDT
     
    It's been quite a beehive of activity around the S4GRU forums as members proclaim that 4G icons are appearing live in the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex, Houston, San Antonio and in isolated spots around the Austin market (most notably around Waco). 4G LTE is appearing in these markets.
    I have now received confirmation from sources within Sprint, that they have indeed stopped blocking LTE connections in the DFW, Houston, San Antontio and Austin markets. LTE is now discoverable for Sprint LTE devices in these locations where LTE sites have been completed. Every fully configured and signed off LTE site in these markets is now live.
    Currently, this leaves only th Atlanta market to be lit up of the July 15th announced cities. Our sources do not know when that is yet, but feel like it may even still be later today. There is a flurry of activity occurring. There have also been reports of some LTE sites appearing in the Chicago market by S4GRU members. But these are very scattered and inconsistent.
    Please note that the live LTE sites in the Austin market is very limited. Mostly around Waco. But there are a very few isolated sites live in the Austin metro area. We are awaiting details on locations.
     
    Live DFW LTE sites as of the last S4GRU update. There are more sites live at this time than what we are reporting. But more coverage will be added weekly.
     
     
    Live Houston LTE sites as of the last S4GRU update. There are more sites live at this time than what we are reporting. But more coverage will be added weekly.
     
     
    Live San Antonio LTE sites as of the last S4GRU update. There are more sites live at this time than what we are reporting. But more coverage will be added weekly.
     
     
    Live Waco LTE sites as of the last S4GRU update. There are more sites live at this time than what we are reporting, even a few around the City of Austin. But more coverage will be added weekly.
  4. S4GRU
    by Robert Herron
    Sprint 4G Rollout Updates
    Tuesday, August 7, 2012 - 9:39 AM MDT
     
    S4GRU has recently been apprised of some additional Network Vision information. As you may recall, when Sprint originally announced Network Vision details and explained their change to LTE for its 4G technology, Sprint also said that planning/design/permitting is under way at the first 22,000 sites. S4GRU was able to obtain the information about these first 22,000 sites last Spring and we have received several updates since. Now we have planning information on the first 24,000 sites.
     
    In perusing the last update we received, we noticed a new market that we have not discussed before. That is West Kentucky. So now it appears that Louisville and the West Kentucky market are making a play for an earlier start.
     

    Louisville/West Kentucky. There are over 360 sites in the West Kentucky
    Sprint market.
    West Kentucky 
    The West Kentucky market is included in Sprint's initial 24,000 sites planning. However, in a cross check with the NV schedule, this market has all its dates as "TBD." It's quite possible since all the planning and permitting for this market will be done in advance, it may actually be moved up to the end of the second round.
     
    I would interpret that TBD means that they are finalizing the Network Vision schedule for this market. We cannot say with any certainty at this time. This should be seen as good news though for the folks living in the West Kentucky market.
     
    We do not have any more details than this to report at this time. S4GRU will keep pushing for all the latest information for you on Sprint's Network Vision and LTE Depolyment. Stay tuned to S4GRU.com for breaking Network Vision news.
     


    Photo of Downtown Louisville courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.


  5. S4GRU
    by Robert Herron
    Sprint 4G Rollout Updates
    Thursday, May 17, 2012 - 12:06 PM MDT
     
    It appears Sprint is moving forward with a revised launch date of the EVO LTE on Wednesday, May 23rd. Our source yesterday said that Sprint was working toward the 23rd. The blog Inside Sprint Now is reporting that the 23rd appears to be a go.
    In an e-mail to one of our Sprint sources for more information, he did confirm that May 23rd is being said internally, but he has no details about the specifics of the authorizations from Customs or the supply chain. We will release more details with updated information about the EVO LTE deliveries as we know more. However, S4GRU Members who purchased from Best Buy are starting to get updates about a May 23rd delivery. Fingers crossed...
     
    Source: Inside Sprint Now, Sprint Internal Source
     
    UPDATE 12:30 PM MDT: Inside Sprint Now is reporting that they are working on shipping pre-orders earlier to arrive prior to the revised launch date of May 23rd. Our source was unable to confirm that at the time of this update.
  6. S4GRU
    by Robert Herron
    Sprint 4G Rollout Updates
    Saturday, March 17, 2012 - 4:09 AM MDT
     
    There have been a lot of rumors and guessing about Sprint's launch of the Galaxy Nexus. Some folks guessed dates that already have passed by. Some others were guessing it would be July 1st or later. However, lately, most reasonably intelligent people who follow this stuff closely have settled on April 15th. And they would be right!
     
    Sprint has set April 15th as the targeted launch date of the Galaxy Nexus
     
    S4GRU.com recently received a tip from a Sprint source from within their Product Development division who confirmed the Galaxy Nexus expected launch date. Sprint internally is holding the April 15, 2012 schedule date for its management of the GNex program. However, the 15th is on a Sunday. That seems like a highly unlikely date to start offering the device in stores. It is much more likely that Sprint will start selling the Galaxy Nexus on Friday the 13th, Saturday the 14th, or possibly even the following weekend.
     
    Sprint has a Galaxy Nexus contest that ends on April 14th and is also running several promotions on WiMax devices that end on April 14th and there abouts. So there have been many people who have reasonably concluded that April 15th was likely the targeted launch date for the new Galaxy Nexus. This turned out to be pretty good deductions.
     
    Other interesting points
     

    Sprint will be taking delivery of their GNex's from Samsung with LTE turned off. Don't worry, the LTE is still capable. It just will not be on by default like many Verizon devices. When you boot up your Sprint Galaxy Nexus it is going to go into 3G mode. You will then be able to toggle into WiFi, 3G or 4G LTE. This is largely because at launch, the Sprint 4G LTE network will not be mature enough to support a 4G LTE always-on connection. Sprint will likely have less than 200 LTE sites live nationwide when the GNex goes on sale. 
    It is anticipated that Sprint will offer sometime in June the ability for the Galaxy Nexus to go into LTE Self Discovery mode, where the device will be able to search for a LTE signal on it is own, and turn LTE off itself automatically if it cannot connect to LTE 1900. This would be a pretty desirable setting. Keeping a LTE signal when at all possible, but minimizing the battery drain of just leaving the LTE on all the time. This will be particularly important during the phase while Sprint is in the process of adding service in your area. Self discovery mode is likely to be added via an OTA.
     
    Another aspect of the Galaxy Nexus is that it fully supports eHRPD. This is the protocol established to allow 3G EVDO to seamlessly handoff to 4G LTE. Back and forth. This will be especially helpful in travelling in and out of LTE service while it is under deployment. The eHRPD will be a welcome improvement over the handoff failures that customers often complained about between 3G EVDO and 4G WiMax. Let's hope that Sprint's eHRPD is more successful than Verizon's. Which is often one of the culprits heard blamed for Verizon's LTE outages that keep occurring.
     
    We will be bringing you more articles this weekend about Sprint LTE devices due in the next few months. Stay tuned!
     
    EDIT: Pardon my ignorance, but I guess it is quite common for Sprint to release devices on Sundays. So maybe Sprint will actually release on Sunday, April 15th? Thanks to all our readers who brought this Sprint trivia to my attention!



     
    Galaxy Nexus teardown photo courtesy of ifixit.com
     
    See also our LG Viper launch story, here: http://s4gru.com/index.php?/blog/1/entry-118-lg-viper-to-see-launch-on-april-15th-alongside-the-galaxy-nexus/
  7. S4GRU
    by Robert Herron
    Sprint 4G Rollout Updates
    Thursday, July 12, 2012 - 6:55 AM MDT
     
    The next market in our Network Vision/LTE deployment schedule update series is...Oregon/SW Washington. The Oregon market has yet to be announced by Sprint, and may not be announced until as late as this Fall.
     
    The Sprint Oregon/SW Washington market covers the State of Oregon and the part of Washington in the Portland Metro Area and along the Columbia River. This includes Portland, Salem, Eugene/Springfield, Bend, Corvallis, Astoria, Medford, Grants Pass and Klamath Falls in Oregon and Vancouver, Battle Ground, Kelso and Longview in Washington State. Sprint's Network Vision OEM Samsung is scheduled to begin mobilizing their subcontractors around the market in October. The first completed Network Vision sites are scheduled to start coming online before the end of that month.
     




    Anticipated Sites Complete at Market Launch. According to the Network Vision schedules that S4GRU has reviewed, if Sprint launched the market in June, these are the anticipated sites that would likely have LTE complete at that time. This would provide fairly good LTE coverage over many parts of the market.


     
    Schedule details and the bottom line
     
    Sprint has not yet selected a date to formally "launch" LTE service in Oregon. It is difficult to try to pick a date now this far out, but we have attempted to do that. In looking at the schedule as of today, it would indicate a June market launch (going on a 40% - 50% completion for launch). But there is no way to know if Samsung and their subcontractors will actually hit their schedule dates before deployment in this market begins. We will be able to gauge better after a few months of production is achieved.
     
    Samsung needs to hit a production rate of approximately 45 sites per month to stay on schedule. This is a normal production rate when compared to other markets. They shouldn't have any schedule issues with the appropriate amount of resources allocated.
     
    S4GRU has examined the schedule in great detail in this market and sees that most of the sites will be complete by September 2013. However, there may be a few sporadic sites that will linger past the completion.





    Photo of Portland/Mt. Hood provided courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.


     

    NOTE: S4GRU Sponsor Members can track regular updates of
    Network Vision sites completed nationwide. Completed sites are shown in an interactive Google Maps interface. Information about sponsorship can be found here: S4GRU Sponsorship

  8. S4GRU
    by Robert Herron
    Sprint 4G Rollout Updates
    Monday, July 9, 2012 - 6:00 AM MDT
     
    The next market in our Network Vision/LTE deployment schedule update series is...Orange County, California. The Orange County market has yet to be announced by Sprint, and may not be announced until as late as this Fall.
     
    The Sprint Orange County market includes Anaheim, Santa Ana, Irvine, Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Orange, Fullerton, Laguna Niguel and Mission Viejo. Sprint's Network Vision OEM Alcatel/Lucent is scheduled to begin mobilizing their subcontractors around the market in September. The first completed Network Vision sites are scheduled to start coming online in October.
     




    Anticipated Sites Complete at Market Launch. According to the Network Vision schedules that S4GRU has reviewed, if Sprint launched the market in April, these are the anticipated sites that would likely have LTE complete at that time. This would provide fairly good LTE coverage over many parts of the market.


     
    Schedule details and the bottom line
     
    Sprint has not selected a date to formally "launch" LTE service in Orange County, yet. It is difficult to try to pick a date now this far out, but we will try. In looking at the schedule as of today, it would indicate a April - May market launch (going on a 40% - 50% completion for launch). But there is no way to know if AlcaLu and their subcontractors will actually hit their schedule dates this early in the deployment for this market. We will be able to gauge better after a few months of production.
     
    Alcatel/Lucent needs to hit a production rate of only 35 sites per month to stay on schedule. This is a pretty low amount compared to many markets. There is no reason why they should not be able to complete the market on time, and there is a good chance that they may even be able to get ahead of schedule.
     
    S4GRU has examined the schedule in great detail in this market and sees that most of the sites will be complete by August 2013. However, there may be a few sporadic sites that will linger past the completion.





    Photo of Newport Center provided courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.


     

    NOTE: S4GRU Sponsor Members can track regular updates of
    Network Vision sites completed nationwide. Completed sites are shown in an interactive Google Maps interface. Information about sponsorship can be found here: S4GRU Sponsorship

  9. S4GRU
    by Robert Herron
    Sprint 4G Rollout Updates
    Monday, February 13, 2012 - 4:19 AM MST
     
    A little over a week ago, Sprint 4G Rollout Updates brought you an article with some details about Network Vision deployment in Chicago. At that time, we reported that the Windy City would receive its Network Vision in cluster deployments. In this article we expand with more detailed information on how Samsung will deploy these clusters based on new information from an internal undisclosed source close to the Network Vision program.
     
    The Chicago market is just incredibly large and diverse for Sprint, with over 1,100 cell sites. Tearing down and rebuilding more than a thousand sites is mind boggling to coordinate and physically laborious to achieve. Samsung has prepared a detailed plan to get it all done by October.
     
    Many of you may be disappointed and think that October is a long way out, but follow along. There will be many miles before Samsung Network Vision field techs will sleep. Samsung and Sprint are hitting the Chicago market hard and will be going non-stop until Network Vision completes the market in the next eight months.
     
    The Sprint Chicago Market is Deeper than any Windy City Deep Dish
     
    The sheer size and amount of work involved is the big reason why Chicago has not been announced by Sprint like the cities of Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Atlanta, Baltimore and Kansas City have been. Sprint thus far has been focused on releasing the names of Network Vision and LTE markets that will largely be complete by mid-year. Even though the Chicago market started slightly earlier than the already announced markets, Samsung will not be complete with Network Vision there by mid year. Although many Chicagoland residents with soon-to-be-for-sale Sprint LTE devices will be able to use the new network at that time, as each new cluster goes live.
     
    The Sprint Chicago market is made up of about 1,120 sites that have been broken down into over 40 conventional Network Vision clusters and two FIT (field testing) clusters. Deployment began in November with the FIT clusters. And once field testing was completed with these, the conventional deployment began in January.
     
    Two Field Testing Clusters, including some unannounced live 4G LTE action in Hammond, Indiana
     
    There are two FIT's that are included in the beginning of the Chicago Network Vision deployment. These were used to test some initial Network Vision deployments. Testing all the engineering and planning that was a year in the making and to see if any anamolies occured or technical adjustments that would need to be made in the Network Vision plans.
     
    The first one, the Kankakee FIT, was announced by Sprint back in December 2011. The Kankakee FIT was well publicized through the tech media. However, there was a second 4G LTE FIT in Hammond, Indiana that also rolled out over a month ago. This one has not been covered in the media, until now.
     
    That's right. You've heard it here first. Hammond, Indiana has a full Sprint 4G LTE deployment active right now. Of course, without any Sprint LTE devices out there at the moment, you cannot use it. Tens of thousands of Northwestern Indiana residents are being bathed in a Sprint 4G LTE signal at 1900MHz right now from 22 sites. This 4G LTE FIT runs from Central Hammond, bleeding a little over the Illinois border and running SE all the way to Merrillville. (see map)
     



     
    What was referred to as the Kankakee FIT was really a 3G-only Network Vision FIT. Many news outlets reported these as including 4G LTE because it was assumed all Network Vision towers had LTE. Interestingly, the Kankakee Network Vision FIT did not even include the community of Kankakee, but rather was represented by 15 cell sites straddling the Indiana/Illinois border. The communities covered by the 3G Network Vision FIT include Momence in Illinois and Roselawn, Hebron, Rensselaer, Morocco and Kentland in Indiana. Sprint's reference to these in December as being in Kankakee turns out to be quite a misnomer. (see map)
     



     
    Conventional NV Rollout anything but conventional
     
    Last month, Samsung began conventional Network Vision deployment. The first clusters receiving Network Vision overhauls are distant rural Chicago communities. Places where they can cover lots of square mileage per site and master their learning curve on fewer customers in a less dense environment.
     
    January clusters include one near the community of Rochelle and extend to approximately a dozen sites in surrounding Ogle, Lee and DeKalb counties. The other cluster is around the town of Morris with another 20 sites spread around rural portions of Grundy, Kendall and Will counties. These are largely active now.
     
    In February, Samsung endeavors to be complete with the cluster in the I-90 Tollway corridor that runs from Elgin to the edge of the Rockford cluster (between Marengo and Belvidere). March brings about the first moves into the suburbs with a cluster around the Fox Valley Mall between Naperville and Aurora, a cluster around Addison (including Lombard, Glendale Heights and Villa Park) and finishing up out in the Northwestern exurbs with a cluster in the area around Cary and Wauconda.
     
    The month of April, Samsung plans to extend deeper into suburbia expanding the Addison cluster westward into Carol Stream and Bloomingdale. April will also begin the Joliet cluster. And the month will wrap up with an expansion west from the Hammond cluster into the Illinois communities of Calumet City, South Holland, Dolton and Harvey. NV service will also be added to sites out in distant Sterling and Rock Falls.
     
    Activity is scheduled to really pick up momentum in May, when a more central cluster around the Evanston/Skokie area starts to come online. Other clusters seeing activity in May include Waukegan/North Chicago, Naperville, Bolingbrook/Downers Grove and the Kankakee cluster that actually includes the city.
     
     


    Chicago Cluster Map. This is a color coded map showing all the sites in the Chicago metro area. Each different color represents a different cluster.


     
     
    The remaining clusters to be deployed:
     
    June Clusters
     

    · Schaumburg/Elk Grove Village
    · Aurora
    · Valparaiso/Portage/Michigan City, Indiana
    · Crown Point, Indiana/Chicago Heights, Illinois
    · Gurnee
    · McHenry/Woodstock
    · St. Charles/DeKalb
    · Freeport
    · Ottawa/Peru/LaSalle/Princeton I-80 Corridor  
    July Clusters
     

    · Rockford/Harvard
    · Palatine/Arlington Heights
    · South Chicago
    · Tinley Park/Orland Park
    · Cicero/Berwyn/Brookfield
    · Oak Park/Maywood
    · Wheaton/West Chicago
    · Crystal Lake
    · Whiting/East Chicago, Indiana  
    August Clusters
     

    · Streamwood/Elgin (east of the river)
    · Glenview/Niles
    · Harwood Heights/Northwest Chicago (city)  
    Septemeber Clusters
     

    · The Loop/Downtown Chicago
    · Remainder of Urban Chicago
    · Oak Lawn
    · Des Plaines/O'Hare
    · Northbrook/Glenview/Wheeling
    · Highland Park/Deerfield
    · Lake Forest/Mundelein
    · Plainfield/Homer Glen
    · Gary, Indiana  
    As you can see, the Chicago market is going to be a bear to tackle for Sprint and Samsung. And likely this difficult deployment will repeat itself in markets like New York and Los Angeles. When you look at the sheer numbers, it's amazing that Sprint is going to largely complete Network Vision in 24 months.
     
    Oh yeah, and a little 800MHz info
     
    Some of the biggest questions that many Sprint Network Vision followers ask are related to 800MHz ESMR band recommissioning for CDMA/LTE in Network Vision. Although we haven't discovered answers to all of Sprint's 800MHz mysteries out there, we can tell you that Sprint is fully deploying 800MHz in Network Vision now.
     
    The entirety of the 800MHz portion of the network from antennas, radios, base station equipment...everything...it will all be in place as a part of Network Vision. It just will not be active until interference from the iDEN network goes away. Final dates to be determined, market by market.
     
    Another 800MHz factoid is that not every Sprint cell site will receive 800MHz service. Part of the Network Vision program includes installing radios (RRU's) up high on the towers, directly behind the antennas. However, some sites will have to keep ground mounted RRU's for varying reasons. Sites with ground mounted RRU's will not be receiving 800MHz deployment. Since most of these locations occur in denser urban/suburban deployment environments, there will be virtually no effect on 800 coverage area in total.
     
    EDITED 3/5/2012: To include cluster map.
  10. S4GRU
    by Robert Herron
    Sprint 4G Rollout Updates
    Friday, March 30, 2012 - 1:46 AM MDT
     
    What about Phoenix? What about Phoenix? What about Phoenix???
     
    I get asked that every day. Sometimes several times per day! On social media, our forum pages and our chat rooms are filled with Phoenicians and Arizonans who feel they have been more than patient with Sprint awaiting for first 4G WiMax and now just even to hear an announcement on 4G LTE.
     
    And here we are, S4GRU.com has announced all of the markets that Sprint has planned for the First Two rounds of Network Vision/LTE deployment. There was no mention of Phoenix in any of those continual announcements. What gives?
     
    Officially, Phoenix and its market neighbor Tucson/Yuma are in the Third Round. However, S4GRU.com can reveal to you that the dates for RF Design and backhaul dates for these two markets are significantly earlier than other 3rd Round markets. Additionally, in a Network Vision schedule update S4GRU obtained a few weeks ago, both the Phoenix and Tucson/Yuma markets engineering schedules moved up from previous schedules.
     
    Now with the latest schedule updates, the Phoenix and Tucson/Yuma markets engineering and design are only 30 days later than what is shown for the last 2nd Round markets. Whereas 3rd Round markets are typically 4 to 5 months later. However, even with the improved dates, Alcatel/Lucent still shows these two markets being in the 3rd Round.
     




    Photo of Downtown Phoenix provided courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.


     
    Are these markets being moved up to the Second Round? Will they be in a no man's land schedule wise between the 2nd and 3rd round? Did someone realize that it would be crazy to do this work in Arizona at the hottest part of the year in 2013, so it should be moved up to Winter? We cannot say with certainty at this time.
     
    It appears that something is a foot. We will continue to monitor schedule progress and let all of you in Arizona know if there are any more changes. I am now cautiously optimistic for you Phoenicians. If I were a betting man, I would wager that you will start seeing sites come live before the end of the 2nd Round.
     




    Photo of Tucson provided courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.


     
    We will also be announcing two more markets in the same boat in an article on Monday morning. Then, the market announcements will stop for awhile. I can't think of why we would announce 3rd Round markets so early. There is way too much variability to what can happen with their schedules. We may repeat this exercise again with 3rd and 4th Round markets later in the year.
     
    Source: Undisclosed internal source
  11. S4GRU
    by Robert Herron
    Sprint 4G Rollout Updates
    Sunday, March 25, 2012 - 1:29 AM MDT
     
     
    From the Land of Ten Thousand Lakes to the gates of Graceland! We are now prepared to tell you about two more Round Two markets in Sprint's Network Vision/LTE deployment plans for 2012...
     
    Memphis and Minnesota!
     
    Sprint's Memphis market
     
    Sprint's Network Vision vendor Ericsson is scheduled to begin the Memphis market early in the Second Round. Ericsson and their subcontractors are scheduled to begin mobilization into Memphis in June 2012 with the first sites starting to come live before 4th of July weekend.
     
    Sprint's Memphis market covers Western Tennessee, Northeastern Arkansas, the little boot of Missouri and Northern Mississippi. Including the cities of Memphis, Jackson, Union City and Dyersburg in Tennessee; Jonesboro, Paragould, Blytheville and Forrest City in Arkansas; Tupelo, Columbus, Starkville, Oxford, and Greenwood in Mississippi. It is bordered by the Arkansas market to the west, the Mississippi market to the south, Alabama and Nashville markets to the east and the Missouri and West Kentucky markets to the north. The Memphis market will have 333 sites in total after Network Vision is complete.
     


    Sprint's Memphis Market. All 330+ Network Vision sites are shown for the Memphis market in this map. Click on image to enlarge.


     
    Sprint's Minnesota market
     
    Sprint's Network Vision vendor Samsung is scheduled to begin the Minnesota market later in the Second Round. Sammy and their bands of merry men are scheduled to begin to start work late in the Fall in Minnesota. This seems like a less than ideal time to start work in a place like the Upper Midwest. But if you live in this market, you have to welcome this over having to wait until Spring thaw. Although the weather this past winter would have been ideal for Winter work!
     
    Sprint's Minnesota market is East Central, Northeast and Southeast Minnesota, as well as Western Wisconsin. It includes Minneapolis, St. Paul, Rochester, Duluth, St. Cloud, Mankato, Austin, Winona, Grand Rapids and Brainerd in Minnesota; Eau Claire, La Crosse and Superior in Wisconsin. It is bordered by the Dakotas market to the west, North Wisconsin market to the east and Central Iowa market to the south. A total of 807 Network Vision sites.
     


    Sprint's Minnesota Market. All of the approximately 800+ Network Vision sites are shown for the Minnesota market in this map. Click on image to enlarge.


     
    Although we know the scheduled start date...
     
    It's exciting that we can tell you the start dates of the Memphis and Minnesota markets. However, we cannot guarantee at this time that things will not change. Sprint has not officially announced these markets and for good reason.
     
    Sprint has three different OEM vendors, with several different crews in many markets at once. There could be final permitting and design delays, some vendors and/or crews will work at different speeds, weather issues and any number of unforeseen circumstances to complicate matters even further.
     
    The work hasn't started and they are keeping their options open. Sprint has said they may elect to slow down Network Vision in future quarters if cash flow becomes strained. And this could affect these markets.
     
    All of these reasons explain why Sprint likely elected not to announce these markets themselves at this time. But we know you don't want to wait for Sprint to tell you! With these caveats understood, we are releasing the information about these markets as it exists to date.
     


    Photo of Memphis skyline courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.


     
    We won't stop digging for you!
     
    Sprint 4G Rollout Updates will continue to scour through the data and gather deployment information for your use. It is our intent to provide at a minimum, all the Sprint markets that will likely begin Network Vision/LTE upgrades in 2012. And we intend to release the remaining unnamed markets in the next week. We will not likely announce communities slated for 2013, because the dates we hold for 2013 markets appear very tentative and subject to change. With many variables to sort out between now and 2013. Sprint could make significant shifts in deployment plans based on dynamic need change, funding, market permitting difficulties, etc.
     
    With the release of Memphis and Minnesota markets today, that brings the total of Network Vision markets announced to 39. We have have a thread in our forums where we are keeping track of all the markets announced by Sprint and S4GRU.com. Click on this link here to view the Network Vision Market Running List.
     
    Stay tuned to Sprint 4G Rollout Updates. On Wednesday we will be releasing our Final two Round Two markets for Sprint Network Vision and LTE deployment. We will be talking about it in a few hours in advance in a S4GRU Live Chat at 9:30 PM Mountain Time on Tuesday evening. Come join us!
     


    Photo of Minneapolis skyline courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

     
    Information about the source: The information for all of our Network Vision information has been freely provided by several sources close to the Network Vision program who choose to remain anonymous. No source information will be released to protect anonymity.
     
    Special thanks to S4GRU Member digiblur for creating the Memphis and Minnesota market maps! Thank you!
  12. S4GRU
    by Robert Herron
    Sprint 4G Rollout Updates
    Monday, April 23, 2012 - 1:59 PM MDT
     
    Can you hear me now? No, I mean really? This isn't some Verizon TV commercial joke.
     
    This is really the situation in Sprint's Chicago market. Many of you, especially in outer Chicagoland, like in Joliet, Aurora, Elgin, Addison, Rochelle and Morris are getting dropped calls like crazy. And other performance issues. As any of you who closely follow S4GRU.com, you know that Samsung is rolling out Network Vision in the area in a big way. First starting in the outer market and working their way in.
     
    A problem started occurring quickly after Network Vision sites started to go live in Chicago at the end of February. Calls started dropping, at a much higher rate than normal. And the complaints started rolling in. It took awhile to actually isolate the issue and discover the cause. Which Sprint and Samsung now well understand. However, the solution will not be easy, and maybe not even implemented.
     
    What's your problem???
     

    Courtesy of verydemotivational.com
    The problem, as many already know, exists at handoff between Network Vision sites and Legacy sites (existing sites). But this problem so far is only really happening in the Chicago market, and not the other markets actively deploying Network Vision upgrades at this time. Something unique is happening in Chicago. The new equipment being deployed is from Samsung. The existing legacy equipment is from Motorola. It is only in Chicago, so far to date, where this problem occurs. 
    Also, Sprint/Samsung has discovered that the site handoff problems only occur when transferring to the same channel. For instance, if you are on Channel 325 when on a Network Vision site, and your device gets handed over to Channel 325 on a legacy site, you may get dropped. However, if you get handed over to Channel 375, then you are safe and will not likely get dropped. The problem does not exist when being handed off to a new site on the same channel if both sites are NV sites, or both are legacy sites. Only the same channel transferring from a NV Samsung site to a legacy Motorola site.
     
    The problem is exacerbated in rural and in less dense suburban areas, because most sites in these areas only have one, or possibly two, voice carriers. And in places where only one or two carriers are deployed, they were most often deployed on the same exact channel. Making it much more likely that you will be transferring to the same channel between NV and legacy sites in these areas. Since Network Vision work in the Chicago market started in more rural and exurban areas, this problem is occurring more often than it will when Samsung starts working in the Loop and there are multiple voice carriers (on different channels) at each site.
     
    Solution options are slim
     
    Sprint is working with Samsung and their network manager Ericsson to try to resolve the problem. However, no easy answers have been discovered. The first thought that comes to my mind, is to start trying to mix up voice carrier channels at legacy sites, so the number of transfers to NV sites on the same channel could be reduced significantly. However, this would involve a "truck roll" to every site and would likely be cost prohibitive.
     
    If Sprint does nothing, the problem will work itself out in time. Since sites are being converted from Legacy systems to Network Vision every day, it's only a matter of time before the whole market is complete and there are no more handoffs between legacy and NV sites on the same channel. The areas where the drops occur are shifting every day as new sites come online.
     
    Even if a solution is not figured out before Network Vision is completed in Chicago, it would still be important for Sprint and Samsung to solve this problem. Chicago is not the only market where Samsung is working on Network Vision and the legacy equipment was by Motorola. Cincinnati, Cleveland and Columbus are also in this position, but are not actively receiving Network Vision upgrades, yet.
     
    We will bring you more info as we learn of it.
  13. S4GRU
    by Robert Herron
    Sprint 4G Rollout Updates
    Monday, October 15, 2012 - 2:39 AM MDT
    Japanese mobile carrier SoftBank and Sprint Nextel formally announced a new venture called "New Sprint" that includes the foreign carrier taking a 70% stake in Sprint. The $20 Billion deal was revealed in the middle of the pre-dawn morning here in the United States as it was timed to be better for the business day where the event announcement was held in Tokyo. The stage was co-hosted by SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son and Sprint CEO Dan Hesse.
    Notably absent in remarks during the announcement or from the Press Releases is clarity for the outcome of Clearwire. There has been speculation about how Clearwire would shake out of this deal. Clearwire's fate is not yet, clear (sorry for the pun). Some believe that Sprint will take it's large cash infusion from SoftBank and purchase Clearwire outright to make their spectrum apart of the SoftBank/Sprint long term strategy. Formally in the Press Release, it says that Sprint is not required to take any action. But the door is left open that they indeed could do that with proceeds.
    The boards of both SoftBank and Sprint have approved the transaction. The deal is anticipated to close in Mid 2013 and will be subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals. It seems to us that regulatory approval in the U.S. should be relatively easy. Japanese companies have not received the scrutiny that Chinese companies have in the past. Most often citing security concerns.
    The New Sprint will stay headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas and Dan Hesse will stay on as the CEO of the new venture. Only three existing Sprint board members will be on the new 10 person New Sprint board.
    S4GRU Members have been discussing this in our forums for the past week since the rumors first surfaced that SoftBank and Sprint were in talks.
    The Press Release with more details is below:
     
     

  14. S4GRU
    by Robert Herron
    Sprint 4G Rollout Updates
    Tuesday, June 26, 2012 - 5:09 PM MDT
     
    I hear from yous guys all the time, so I know that the Big Apple is ready to take a big bite out of the upcoming Sprint LTE network. So it is with great joy, that the next market in our Network Vision/LTE deployment schedule update series is...New York City. This market has not been announced by Sprint, but appears to be on the way for a November/December launch.
     
    The Sprint NYC market covers all of the New York Boroughs, up into Westchester and the Lower Hudson Valley up through Newburgh and Poughkeepsie. Sprint's Network Vision OEM Alcatel/Lucent has been actively deploying in the New York City market since April and is making good progress. As of this week, there are approximately 30 Network Vision sites that have completed upgrades. These sites are located throughout the market.
     

    Network Vision Sites in the New York City market. Approximately thirty Network Vision sites



    are complete in the market.


     
    Market Launch and Remaining Schedule
     
    It was Sprint's original plan to launch markets when they reached 50% of sites converted to Network Vision. However, it has now been determined that Sprint will move up launches sooner than 50% completion in several markets. This is likely to maintain a Mid 2012 launch in markets that have already been announced. However, in an unannounced market like New York, we don't know if they will resume pushing back market launches to 50%, or if they will now settle on a 40% completion to be the new normal for market launches.
     
    If Sprint waits for 50% completion to launch the NYC market, it would make the launch month to be as late as January (should AlcaLu stay on schedule). That being said, if Sprint should launch some time in November (as we suspect), then the market would be less than 50% complete. This doesn't sound like enough, but it would provide pretty good coverage. Even Verizon doesn't launch on all sites in a market initially. Usually less than 50%, then filling in with more and more sites every few months.
     




    Anticipated Sites Complete at Market Launch. According to the Network Vision schedules that S4GRU



    has reviewed, if Sprint launched the market in November, these are the anticipated sites that would



    likely have LTE complete at that time. This would provide fairly good LTE coverage over many parts



    of the market.


     
    Sprint is not reporting any of these live Network Vision sites in the NYC market as currently broadcasting 4G LTE, only 3G EVDO. According to the NV schedule, these should have started coming online in June with LTE. However, none have shown up as LTE active to date. This most likely means that either the backhaul is not quite ready to service 4G LTE, or the 4G cores that these sites are tied to are not quite ready for LTE traffic. A huge backlog of LTE sites will probably come online in this market suddenly when the network is ready.
     
    The bottom line...
     
    We currently do not have a date that Sprint will formally "launch" the New York City market. We believe they are targeting a launch month of October based on reports internally within Sprint. However, after reviewing the schedule, we don't see how they could launch before November unless the market deployment speeds up faster than scheduled, or they lower the percentage for launch to be less than 40%. We will be listening closely when Sprint announces the next round of market launch projections to see if they include New York, or even if they so boldly announce a date.
     
    Sprint's schedule for this market currently has 31 Network Vision sites complete. Alcatel/Lucent is continuing to progress and is planning to increase the production rate up to 90 sites per month from here forward. This seems like a very high rate, but plausible with the right resources allocated to the job.
     
    S4GRU has examined the schedule in great detail in this market and sees that most of the sites will be complete by May 2013. However, there are several sites that will linger past the completion. In our estimation of the schedule, AlcaLu is currently a little behind schedule, but can recover if they start increasing production to 20+ sites per week in July.
     




    Photo of Manhattan provided courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.


     

    NOTE: S4GRU Sponsor Members can track regular updates of
    Network Vision sites completed nationwide. Completed sites are shown in an interactive Google Maps interface. Information about sponsorship can be found here: S4GRU Sponsorship

  15. S4GRU
    by Robert Herron
    Sprint 4G Rollout Updates
    Monday, June 25, 2012 - 7:15 AM MDT
     
    The next market in our Network Vision/LTE deployment schedule update series is a place where things are just starting to get hopping...Miami and South Florida. This is the first Second Round market we have written up in this article series. The Miami/West Palm market has yet to be announced by Sprint, but is expected to be announced in the near future. Perhaps around the time of the first market launches.
     
    The Sprint Miami/West Palm market covers basically all of South Florida, from West Palm Beach to Key West. Dade, Broward, Monroe and West Palm counties. Sprint's Network Vision OEM Ericsson began mobilizing in this area with its subcontractors in May and has been actively working throughout June thus far. To date, there are no completed and active Network Vision sites in the market, but there should be pretty soon.
     

    Network Vision work in Miami/West Palm market. A site receiving Network Vision overhaul in Homestead, Florida in June 2012. Photos courtesy of S4GRU Member flycuban.


     
    Market Launch and Remaining Schedule
     
    It was Sprint's original plan to launch markets when they reached 50% of sites converted to Network Vision. However, it has now been determined that Sprint will move up launches sooner than 50% completion in several markets. This is likely to maintain a Mid 2012 launch in markets that have already been announced. However, in an unannounced market like Miami, we don't know if they will resume pushing back market launches to 50%, or if they will now settle on a 40% completion to be the new normal for market launches.
     
    If Sprint waits for 50% completion to launch the Miami/West Palm market, it would make the launch month to be November (should Ericsson stay on schedule). If they plan on a 40% market completion for launch, that would be October. You may think that 40% - 50% site completion is not enough to launch LTE service, but it would provide pretty good coverage. Even Verizon doesn't launch on all sites in a market initially. Usually less than 50%, then filling in with more and more sites every few months.
     




    Anticipated Sites Complete at Market Launch. According to the Network Vision schedules that S4GRU has reviewed, if Sprint launched the market in October, these are the anticipated sites that would likely have LTE complete at that time. This would provide fairly good LTE coverage over many parts of the market.


     
    The bottom line...
     
    We currently do not have a date that Sprint will formally "launch" the Miami/West Palm market. It is really hard to call at this point, but the schedule as of today would indicate an October or November market launch (going on a 40% - 50% completion for launch). But there is no way to know if Ericsson and their subcontractors will actually hit their schedule dates this early in the deployment for this market. We will be able to gauge better after a few months of production.
     
    Ericsson will only need to hit a production rate of 65 sites per month to stay on schedule. This seems like a reasonable rate, compared with how some other Ericsson markets are going along. The Atlanta/Athens market has hit rates beyond this. And the Chicago market has been able to hit 50 sites in a week at times, but that market is being handled by Samsung and a different subcontractor base.
     
    S4GRU has examined the schedule in great detail in this market and sees that most of the sites will be complete by February 2013. However, there may be a few sporadic sites that will linger past the completion.
     




    Photo of Miami provided courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.


     

    NOTE: S4GRU Sponsor Members can track regular updates of
    Network Vision sites completed nationwide. Completed sites are shown in an interactive Google Maps interface. Information about sponsorship can be found here: S4GRU Sponsorship

  16. S4GRU
    by Robert Herron
    Sprint 4G Rollout Updates
    Tuesday, April 10, 2012 - 1:31 AM MDT
     
     
    Sprint 4G Rollout Updates has completed announcements on the first two rounds of Network Vision, naming just over 40 of Sprint's 97 markets as slated to begin deployment before the end of 2012. Sprint's Network Vision and LTE Deployment are in full swing with First Round markets cranking out production. Even some Second Round markets will begin deployment as soon as May.
     
    S4GRU has recently been apprised of some additional Network Vision information. As you may recall, when Sprint originally announced Network Vision details and explained their change to LTE for its 4G technology, Sprint also said that planning/design/permitting is under way at the first 22,000 sites. S4GRU has now been able to see information on those initial 22,000 sites. Sprint originally said that these sites were the first sites to receive Network Vision upgrades.
     
    In the data for all these sites, there were not many surprises. But two things immediately jumped out. Or, I should say, two markets. All of the markets comprising the 22,000 sites are in the first two announced rounds, except two. There are two markets that it appears Sprint is proceeding with complete site planning and design that have not been announced to date by S4GRU.
     
    Missouri and Oklahoma
     

    Missouri/Oklahoma. There are over 1,175 sites in the Missouri and
    Oklahoma Sprint markets.
    The Missouri and Oklahoma markets are included in Sprint's initial 22,000 sites planning. However, in a cross check, these two markets are not in the Sprint schedule for the first two rounds. It's quite possible since all the planning and permitting for these two markets will be done in advance, they may actually be moved up in to the second round. We cannot say with any certainty at this time. This should be seen as good news though for the folks living in these two markets. 
    We do not have any more details than this to report on these two markets currently. S4GRU will keep pushing for all the latest information for you on Sprint's Network Vision and LTE Depolyment. Stay tuned to S4GRU.com for breaking Network Vision news.
     
     







    Photos Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.


  17. S4GRU
    by Robert Herron
    Sprint 4G Rollout Updates
    Tuesday, August 5, 2014 - 5:30 PM MDT
     
    The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg are reporting this evening that Sprint will announce tomorrow morning that it will stop pursuing a purchase of T-Mobile USA.
     
    Furthermore, according to these leaks to financial media, it is also anticipated that Sprint CEO Dan Hesse will leave Sprint and his replacement will be named. The combination of the two companies was already cast as dubious by many because of the perceived reduction in competition in the American wireless landscape. CNBC stated that the final straw was the FCC decision last week not to allow Sprint and T-Mobile to jointly bid for spectrum in the 600MHz auction. It was seen that this move by the FCC was indicative of the Feds lack of tolerance of a combined entity.
     
    We will add to the rumors by wondering aloud if Nikesh Arora will be named the new Sprint CEO. Arora recently was announced to be leaving Google as Chief Business Officer for a new position at SoftBank. Could this have been a play to move him to Sprint all along? UPDATE: Later into the evening, more sources have outed Marcelo Claure as the heir apparent to Dan Hesse. Claure is best known as the majority owner of Brightstar and already serves on Sprint's Board.
     
    Stay tuned as more information is obtained!
     
    S4GRU Members are discussing this in our forums: http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/6013-sprint-reportedly-bowing-out-of-t-mobile-bid/?p=346787
     
    EDIT: Added CNBC info at 5:55 PM MDT, Added Arora conjecture at 6:10 PM MDT. Added infor regarding Marcelo Claude at 8:15 PM PDT.
     
    Sources: Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, CNBC
  18. S4GRU
    by Robert Herron
    Sprint 4G Rollout Updates
    Tuesday, July 10, 2012 - 11:56 AM MDT
     
    The next market in our Network Vision/LTE deployment schedule update series is...Riverside/San Bernardino, otherwise known as the Inland Empire. The Riverside/San Bernardino market has yet to be announced by Sprint, and may not be announced until as late as this Fall.
     
    The Sprint Riverside/San Bernardino market includes Riverside, San Bernardino, Ontario, Fontana, Moreno Valley, Rancho Cucamonga, Victorville/Hesperia, Murrieta, Temecula, Rialto, Big Bear, Lake Arrowhead, Barstow, Twentynine Palms, Palm Springs and Indio. Sprint's Network Vision OEM Alcatel/Lucent is scheduled to begin mobilizing their subcontractors around the market in November. The first completed Network Vision sites are scheduled to start coming online in December.
     




    Anticipated Sites Complete at Market Launch. According to the Network Vision schedules that S4GRU has reviewed, if Sprint launched the market in April, these are the anticipated sites that would likely have LTE complete at that time. This would provide fairly good LTE coverage over many parts of the market.


     
    Schedule details and the bottom line
     
    Sprint has not yet selected a date to formally "launch" LTE service in the Inland Empire. It is difficult to try to pick a date now this far out, but we will try. In looking at the schedule as of today, it would indicate a April - May market launch (going on a 40% - 50% completion for launch). But there is no way to know if AlcaLu and their subcontractors will actually hit their schedule dates this early in the deployment for this market. We will be able to gauge better after a few months of production.
     
    Alcatel/Lucent needs to hit a production rate of only 45 sites per month to stay on schedule. This is about average and the should be able to complete this market on time.
     
    S4GRU has examined the schedule in great detail in this market and sees that most of the sites will be complete by October 2013. However, there may be a few sporadic sites that will linger past the completion.





    Photo of Riverside Skyline provided courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.


     

    NOTE: S4GRU Sponsor Members can track regular updates of
    Network Vision sites completed nationwide. Completed sites are shown in an interactive Google Maps interface. Information about sponsorship can be found here: S4GRU Sponsorship

  19. S4GRU
    by Robert Herron
    Sprint 4G Rollout Updates
    Thursday, July 5, 2012 - 12:26 PM MDT
     
    The next market in our Network Vision/LTE deployment schedule update series is...Northern Jersey. The Northern Jersey market has yet to be announced by Sprint, and may not be announced until as late as this Fall.
     
    The Sprint Northern Jersey market encompasses Hudson, Essex, Bergen, Union, Passaic, Morris, Warren and Sussex counties. This includes such communities as Newark, Jersey City, Union City, Bayonne, Elizabeth, Clifton, Passaic, Paterson, Hackensack, Teterboro, Paramus and distant Phillipsburg over on the Pennsylvania border. Sprint's Network Vision OEM Alcatel/Lucent is scheduled to begin mobilizing their subcontractors around the market in October. The first completed Network Vision sites are scheduled to start coming online in November.
     




    Anticipated Sites Complete at Market Launch. According to the Network Vision schedules that S4GRU has reviewed, if Sprint launched the market in January, these are the anticipated sites that would likely have LTE complete at that time. This would provide fairly good LTE coverage over many parts of the market.


     
    Schedule details and the bottom line
     
    Sprint has not selected a date to formally "launch" LTE service in Northern Jersey, yet. It is difficult to try to pick a date now this far out, but we will attempt to do just that. In looking at the schedule as of today, it would indicate a January market launch (going on a 40% - 50% completion for launch). But there is no way to know if AlcaLu and their subcontractors will actually hit their schedule dates this early in the deployment for this market. We will be able to gauge better after a few months of production.
     
    Alcatel/Lucent needs to hit a production rate of approximately 50 sites per month to stay on schedule. This market shouldn't have problems staying on time as 50 sites per month is a steady rate that can be achieved with proper planning.
     
    S4GRU has examined the schedule in great detail in this market and sees that most of the sites will be complete by August 2013. However, there may be a few sporadic sites that will linger past the completion.





    Photo of the Statue of Liberty and the Jersey City skyline provided courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.


     

    NOTE: S4GRU Sponsor Members can track regular updates of
    Network Vision sites completed nationwide. Completed sites are shown in an interactive Google Maps interface. Information about sponsorship can be found here: S4GRU Sponsorship

  20. S4GRU
    by Robert Herron
    Sprint 4G Rollout Updates
    Monday, July 2, 2012 - 12:30 PM MDT
     
    The next market in our Network Vision/LTE deployment schedule update series is ...San Diego. The San Diego market has yet to be announced by Sprint, but is expected to be announced in the near future. Perhaps around the time of the first market launches.
     
    The Sprint San Diego market encompasses San Diego County and parts of Imperial County, including the San Diego Metro Area, Encinitas, Carlsbad, Oceanside, Vista, San Marcos, Escondido and Calexico and El Centro to the East. Sprint's Network Vision OEM Alcatel/Lucent is scheduled to begin mobilizing their subcontractors around the market this month. The first completed Network Vision sites are scheduled to start coming online in August.
     
    San Diego Market Launch
     
    It was Sprint's original plan to launch markets when they reached 50% of sites converted to Network Vision. However, it has now been determined that Sprint will move up launches sooner than 50% completion in several markets. This is likely to maintain a Mid 2012 launch in markets that have already been announced. However, in an unannounced market like San Diego, we don't know if they will resume pushing back market launches to 50%, or if they will now settle on a 40% completion to be the new normal for market launches.
     
    If Sprint waits for 50% completion to launch this market, it would make the launch approximately February/March (should the OEM stay on schedule). If they plan on a 40% market completion for launch, that would be January. You may think that 40% - 50% site completion is not enough to launch LTE service, but it would provide pretty good coverage. Even Verizon doesn't launch on all sites in a market initially. Usually less than 50%, then filling in with more and more sites every few months.
     




    Anticipated Sites Complete at Market Launch. According to the Network Vision schedules that S4GRU has reviewed, if Sprint launched the market in January, these are the anticipated sites that would likely have LTE complete at that time. This would provide fairly good LTE coverage over many parts of the market.


     
    Schedule details and the bottom line
     
    Sprint has not selected a date to formally "launch" LTE service in San Diego, yet. It is difficult to try to pick a date now this far out, but we will take a stab at it. In looking at the schedule as of today, it would indicate a January market launch (going on a 40% - 50% completion for launch). But there is no way to know if AlcaLu and their subcontractors will actually hit their schedule dates this early in the deployment for this market. We will be able to gauge better after a few months of production.
     
    Alcatel/Lucent needs to hit a production rate of approximately 70 sites per month to stay on schedule. This market shouldn't have problems staying on time as 70 sites per month is a steady rate that can be achieved with proper planning.
     
    S4GRU has examined the schedule in great detail in this market and sees that most of the sites will be complete by May 2013. However, there may be a few sporadic sites that will linger past the completion.





    Photo of the Downtown San Diego provided courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.


     

    NOTE: S4GRU Sponsor Members can track regular updates of
    Network Vision sites completed nationwide. Completed sites are shown in an interactive Google Maps interface. Information about sponsorship can be found here: S4GRU Sponsorship

  21. S4GRU
    Danny Bullard
    Sprint 4G Rollout Updates
    Wednesday, March 21, 2012 - 11:39 AM MDT
     
    FreedomPop is a company that aims to provide free broadband, founded by Niklas Zennstrom (Skype Founder). FreedomPop plans on releasing a case for the iPhone 4/4S with an integrated 4G WiMax radio according to a "high level source inside FreedomPop." Not only will it allow your iPhone device to use a 4G signal, but this case will be able to share a WiMax connection with up to eight devices, for 30 hours. At the moment, FreedomPop hasn't committed to a release date.
     
    Each iPhone case user will have a 1 GB of free data starting off. If you go over the 1 gig cap, it'll cost you $10 per gigabyte or 10 cents per MB. According to TechCrunch's sources, you'll have to put down a $100 deposit for this case. The deposit is refundable if the case is in "good" condition.
     
    This case will allow your 3G iPhone 4/4S run on Clearwire's 4G WiMax network. Pretty neat huh? All you have to do is slide your iPhone into the case and BAM you have 4G if you're in a Clear 4G market. We know this case will not beat Verizon's 4G LTE speeds or AT&T's LTE speeds, but it will be a good alternative to 3G (especially on Sprint and Verizon) and users who don't have 4G devices (iPhone users). The Clear 4G footprint covers 130 million POPs. FreedomPop struck their wholesale agreement with Clearwire in February.
     
    This concept isn't entirely new. We saw something very similar to this debut on Sprint in November of 2010. It was a ZTE manufactured peel that gave users access to Sprint's 3G EVDO network. ZTE's peel got decent reviews from buyers. A lot of people liked that the peel brought decent data speeds without a contract. It was a wonderful idea, hopefully FreedomPop can improve on what ZTE started on Sprint's network.
     
    So, is this innovation at it's finest? I'd say not really, but if FreedomPop markets this case enough, it could be a huge hit.
     



     
     
    Source: TechCrunch.com, FierceWireless
  22. S4GRU
    by Robert Herron
    Sprint 4G Rollout Updates
    Friday, June 29, 2012 - 8:59 AM MDT
     
    The next market in our Network Vision/LTE deployment schedule update series is The City Beautiful...Orlando. The Orlando market has yet to be announced by Sprint, but is expected to be announced in the near future. Perhaps around the time of the first market launches.
     
    The Sprint Orlando market encompasses all of the East Central portion of the Florida peninsula. Including the Orlando metro area, Melbourne/Palm Bay area, Port St. Lucie, Daytona Beach/Port Orange Area, Lakeland/Winter Haven, Palm Coast, Titusville/Cocoa Beach/Space Coast, Deltona and Vero Beach. Sprint's Network Vision OEM Ericsson is scheduled to begin mobilizing with its subcontractors in July. Completed Network Vision sites are scheduled to start coming online in September. However, if they mobilize in July, sites may start actually coming online in August.
     
    Orlando Market Launch
     
    It was Sprint's original plan to launch markets when they reached 50% of sites converted to Network Vision. However, it has now been determined that Sprint will move up launches sooner than 50% completion in several markets. This is likely to maintain a Mid 2012 launch in markets that have already been announced. However, in an unannounced market like Orlando, we don't know if they will resume pushing back market launches to 50%, or if they will now settle on a 40% completion to be the new normal for market launches.
     
    If Sprint waits for 50% completion to launch this market, it would make the launch approximately January (should the OEM stay on schedule). If they plan on a 40% market completion for launch, that would be December. You may think that 40% - 50% site completion is not enough to launch LTE service, but it would provide pretty good coverage. Even Verizon doesn't launch on all sites in a market initially. Usually less than 50%, then filling in with more and more sites every few months.
     




    Anticipated Sites Complete at Market Launch. According to the Network Vision schedules that S4GRU has reviewed, if Sprint launched the market in December, these are the anticipated sites that would likely have LTE complete at that time. This would provide fairly good LTE coverage over many parts of the market.


     
    Schedule details and the bottom line
     
    We currently do not have a date that Sprint will formally "launch" LTE service in Orlando. It is difficult to try to pick a date now this far out, but we will take a stab at it. In looking at the schedule as of today, it would indicate a December or January market launch (going on a 40% - 50% completion for launch). But there is no way to know if Ericsson and their subcontractors will actually hit their schedule dates this early in the deployment for this market. We will be able to gauge better after a few months of production.
     
    Ericsson will need to hit a production rate of 65 sites per month to stay on schedule. This is an achievable rate in our opinion. If properly prepared and equipped and if backhaul is ready timely, this market shouldn't have problems staying on time.
     
    S4GRU has examined the schedule in great detail in this market and sees that most of the sites will be complete by May 2013. However, there may be a few sporadic sites that will linger past the completion.





    Photo of the Orlando skyline provided courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.


     

    NOTE: S4GRU Sponsor Members can track regular updates of
    Network Vision sites completed nationwide. Completed sites are shown in an interactive Google Maps interface. Information about sponsorship can be found here: S4GRU Sponsorship

  23. S4GRU
    by Robert Herron
    Sprint 4G Rollout Updates
    Tuesday, July 17, 2012 - 5:01 PM MDT
     
    I am taking a moment and breaking from our normal Network Vision news and educational pieces to write an editorial. I try not to bloviate, but I feel like I am at a breaking point here. This weekend was a moment of great joy for many of us Sprint Network Enthusiasts as 4G LTE started going live at hundreds of sites across the country in a few select markets. However, our geek party was frequently interrupted by incessant whining.
    One of the chief frequent whines I heard around S4GRU was related to LTE coverage. And it still is populating our forum posts, my e-mail box and our social media sites. You folks need to wake up and get a grip. The world is not ending.
    S4GRU has been out there building expectations among our members and readers from the beginning. We have written hundreds of articles on Network Vision/LTE deployment. Anyone who actually reads our content knows that Sprint is targeting 40% market completion at market launch. 40%. That means 60% of the sites within a market do not have LTE at the time a market is planned to launch. Sprint did not quite even get to 40% with these July 15th markets, but proceeded any way based on demand from customers wanting access.
     
    You hypocrites!
    You know, I find it very interesting that so many people were pushing Sprint to stop blocking LTE connections. There was a large battle cry from most Sprint LTE device holders in active deployment areas for Sprint to stop blocking completed LTE sites. "Let me use my LTE, darn it!" This was heard over and over again. We even were championing for Sprint to open up their LTE network at completed sites for customers to use.
    Finally, Sprint does exactly that. Instead of rejoicing, there was whining en masse. "I live in the San Antonio market. And the block where I live behind the Piggly Wiggly doesn't have LTE right this very second. Sprint sucks. I'm leaving!" Really? Are people that messed up??? Many of you should be ashamed of your self-centered ridiculous tantrums that you posted, publicly embarrassing yourself. You act as if Sprint actually went through maps and hand picked who would win and who would lose in early deployments. This is far from reality.
     
    Early access or comprehensive coverage? Pick one, you can't have both
    The question I have for you folks is this...
    Should Sprint have waited until these markets were 100% complete later this year to allow the completed LTE sites to be used, or should they open up the markets now where at least the completed sites can be used? This is a no-brainer! Open them up now and every additional site that goes live every week, as they are complete! These markets that have launched are not done. They are still active deployment zones and additional sites will come live every week until completed. And we will update the progress here at S4GRU.
    This ridiculous moaning and complaining will just make it more likely that Sprint will not allow other markets to go live early. If all they hear from their customers are the whiny bunch, then they will think their customers don't want LTE until it is completely ready, with no bugs and completely 100% deployed. You may not like it, but the complainers are speaking for all of us.
     
    Time to stand up and go on the offensive
    If you want to continue to have access to the LTE network early, then you need to stand up and start posting out there the counter story. The tech sites, blogs and forums are being inundated with these people speaking on your behalf. Complaining about all the problems of an early launch and early access to LTE. You may even have to go to the Sprint Community Forums and help defend the intelligent decision to open up LTE early. The counter point needs to get out there.
    It's time for the Wireless Nerds to take our rightful place. We want access to the network early. We would rather live with a few bugs and limited coverage than to not have access to Sprint's LTE network at all. Sprint needs to continue opening up their LTE network even in more places where they can. And they will be afraid to do that in the next markets if we don't take a stand.
    I know this editorial may be a little over the top for some of you. But I am mad as hell, and I'm not going to let the whiners speak over our voices any more. We are Sprint, not them!
     
    Signed,
    Robert
    Leader of the Nerds
     
    EDIT: Changed the two references to bitching. I violated my own rules.
  24. S4GRU
    by Robert Herron
    Sprint 4G Rollout Updates
    Wednesday, September 5, 2012 - 7:45 AM MDT
     
    S4GRU has received a tip that Network Vision was spotted underway in the Austin metro area. We were able to send out a core member to verify. We are happy to report that Sprint is indeed under way with Network Vision/LTE deployment in the Austin market.
     
    S4GRU Member ATX4G first reported the work at the site. Later S4GRU Member boomerbubba, went out to verify for this article. While at Site #SA14XC087, Boomerbubba was able to actually talk with one of the field techs working at the site, and offered this report:
     
     
    There you go. Verification of the first Austin site. Most likely, there are many more currently under active deployment all around greater Austin at this moment. We also reported this weekend more activity in the Austin market with a new site at Ft. Hood Medical Center.
     
    It looks like the Austin market is no longer being delayed and back on track with an active deployment. The original Network Vision schedule had work starting in the Austin Metro Area in June. So, it appears like it is starting 2-1/2 months later than originally planned. So perhaps we can expect an end of November launch and a January/February completion? By the end of September, they should be hitting their stride and we can better evaluate then. Stay tuned.
     

  25. S4GRU
    by Robert Herron
    Sprint 4G Rollout Updates
    Sunday, July 1, 2012 - 12:56 PM MDT
     
    The next market in our Network Vision/LTE deployment schedule update series is the City of Brotherly Love...Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Metro market has yet to be announced by Sprint, but is expected to be announced in the near future. Perhaps around the time of the first market launches.
     
    The Sprint Philly market encompasses all of Southeastern Pennsylvania. Including the Philly Metro area, up toward the Lehigh Valley (Allentown/Bethlehem/Easton) and over toward Reading and Pottstown. In does not include the Jersey suburbs, which are in the Southern Jersey market. Sprint's Network Vision OEM Alcatel/Lucent is scheduled to be mobilizing their subcontractors around the market now. Completed Network Vision sites are scheduled to start coming online this month.
     
    Philadelphia Metro Market Launch
     
    It was Sprint's original plan to launch markets when they reached 50% of sites converted to Network Vision. However, it has now been determined that Sprint will move up launches sooner than 50% completion in several markets. This is likely to maintain a Mid 2012 launch in markets that have already been announced. However, in an unannounced market like Philly, we don't know if they will resume pushing back market launches to 50%, or if they will now settle on a 40% completion to be the new normal for market launches.
     
    If Sprint waits for 50% completion to launch this market, it would make the launch approximately January (should the OEM stay on schedule). If they plan on a 40% market completion for launch, that would be December. You may think that 40% - 50% site completion is not enough to launch LTE service, but it would provide pretty good coverage. Even Verizon doesn't launch on all sites in a market initially. Usually less than 50%, then filling in with more and more sites every few months.
     




    Anticipated Sites Complete at Market Launch. According to the Network Vision schedules that S4GRU has reviewed, if Sprint launched the market in December, these are the anticipated sites that would likely have LTE complete at that time. This would provide fairly good LTE coverage over many parts of the market.


     
    Schedule details and the bottom line
     
    We currently do not have a date that Sprint will formally "launch" LTE service in Philadelphia. It is difficult to try to pick a date now this far out, but we will take a stab at it. In looking at the schedule as of today, it would indicate a December or January market launch (going on a 40% - 50% completion for launch). But there is no way to know if AlcaLu and their subcontractors will actually hit their schedule dates this early in the deployment for this market. We will be able to gauge better after a few months of production.
     
    Alcatel/Lucent will need to hit a production rate of 50 sites per month to stay on schedule. This is an achievable rate in our opinion. If properly prepared and equipped and if backhaul is ready timely, this market shouldn't have problems staying on time.
     
    S4GRU has examined the schedule in great detail in this market and sees that most of the sites will be complete by July 2013. However, there may be a few sporadic sites that will linger past the completion.





    Photo of the Philadelphia skyline provided courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.


     

    NOTE: S4GRU Sponsor Members can track regular updates of
    Network Vision sites completed nationwide. Completed sites are shown in an interactive Google Maps interface. Information about sponsorship can be found here: S4GRU Sponsorship

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