S4GRU

I know in central Maryland, I've only ever seen 2 antennas listed on my iPhone 6 for Band 41...even on confirmed 8T8R towers.

Yea, that's how it has been in the past. But this question was wondering if they have switched the 4x MIMO on in areas where 2xCA is live. We have not had reports from Maryland yet for 2xCA. But when it starts going live there, watch for 4x MIMO. Thanks.

Also wondering if this was accompanied by 4x2MIMO.

Not many, or possibly not any, Android devices show number of antennas received. However, we know the iPhone 6's do for B41. So it will take some B41 4xMIMO reports from iPhone 6's to verify.

Do we have any updates as to what, when, where, etc.?

Nope.  All we know are just the Project Oceans sites accepted to date.

While I understand the background info is a broad paint brush, was there anything to indicate what part of the country will get the SPARK?

I am waiting to upgrade my equipment until SPARK has a chance to come to Omaha, Nebraska.

Thank you for the shared info.

Unfortunately, we did not have any details further than what was presented.  Since the work has not been funded yet and everything open to being chopped, the source did not provide that level of detail.  And since final plans could change drastically, it would not be very useful either.

Robert

What is the difference between these two buckets of sites?

• 500 – New Triband sites in Urban and Suburban areas to infill coverage where 1900 and 2600 currently do not reach or reach well and 800 capacity would also be improved
• 5,000 – New Urban and Suburban TDD-LTE 2600 “Spark” only sites infilling existing coverages for better signal quality, indoor performance, and capacity. It is not known the mix of macro sites and small cell sites.

Do the 500 tri-band sites include CDMA whereas the 5,000 "Spark"-only sites are LTE-only? Or is it something else?

Yes, you are correct.  The tri-band sites include CDMA, and LTE on 800 and 1900.  Whereas the Spark only sites will include LTE on 2600 only.  Because they are density infill areas where Sprint CDMA and LTE 800/1900 completely cover on existing sites, but because of the weaker propagation of 2600MHz, they need an additional site in between towers to make 2600MHz seamless.

Does this means Erie PA, Northeast Ohio, Northwest PA and Western most part of NY will be 4G / LTE

Most of these sites (especially in Erie and the NY-17 corridor) are GMO sites.  Sprint has not funded full build conversion of these sites to have them upgraded to LTE.  Until Sprint prioritizes this area and funds the conversion, there will be no LTE.  Because Sprint tries not to do LTE on GMO's.  This will not likely happen this year.

Most Sprint sites in NE Ohio have already been upgraded.  And the few that have not, will likely be done in 2015.

None of the areas you mentioned really are a part of the expansion projects referenced in the article.

Will the Verizon iPhone 6Plus support Band 26 or 41?

The Verizon model supports B25 & B26, but not B41:  https://www.apple.com/iphone-6/specs/

But the Sprint model fully supports Verizon.  Sprint gets screwed again.  Apple could have put Verizon and Sprint on the same exact model.

but the verizon models of the iphone 5s and 5c only support band 25 LTE. I think this has more to do with the technical limitations of iphone 5. The  5s and 5c support csim and can be domestically unlocked for voice and data for both GSM and CDMA . the 5 does not support CSIM and is technically locked for domestic for said carrier. the 5 would need to use the old trick of flashing to work on Sprint for CDMA and we know that was probably not a support option.  

https://www.apple.com/iphone-5s/specs/

You are correct.  The iPhone 5s/5c have two different CDMA models.  I thought there was just one until the 6 series.  My mistake.

Great points.  

Do you know if iphone 5s from boost mobile would work ? Because boost does not have unlimited data plan .

I only know what is in the image in the article, which does not address iPhones from Boost.  Since it is supposed to launch tomorrow, you can call Sprint directly and give it a try.  If it works, let us know.  

If they allow the 5s, why not allow the 5?

From posts in spark markets, it sounds like single-band experience is OK.

The first thought that comes to my mind is that the 5s and 5c support B25 and B26.  So at least that is dualband.  Sprint probably shouldn't allow any PCS LTE only devices on their network at this time.

I guess the March rumor was true.  BYOAD now formally launching tomorrow:  http://s4gru.com/index.php?/blog/1/entry-384-take-two-sprint-offers-byod-for-apple-devices/

On vinyl, eh?  Was that on vinyl LP?  Or was it on 8-track left sitting on the vinyl seats of your T-top Camaro -- while you went inside the salon to get a trim and perm for your mullet?

 

 

AJ

Looks like the FCC approvals for the GS6 and One M9 just came out... hint hint S4GRU ;-)

We are working toward an article that may publish tomorrow.  

While it's good that Sprint is planning expanded coverage, where will it occur, what's the realistic completion date for the new expanded 9000 sites?  Up and running means everything.

We do not have information about completion dates at this time or counts of what is going where outside of Project Ocean and Project Cedar.  The planning of this network expansion is quite early in the process.  Funding is going to be a significant factor in the scheduling.

How many nextel sites did they just decommission?  Surely some of those could have been used for this project?

They decommissioned over 28,000 iDEN macro sites.  Only approximately 600-700 provided unique coverage not covered by the Sprint CDMA network.  The additional 400-500, Sprint will be keeping to increase signal density in areas that are lacking.

I'm guessing there's been no re-reversal of this?

I heard a rumor of March, but we have not received any concrete information, even internally.  So, we wait.

Exciting news in all respects... 

I enjoyed reading your analysis. Good post.

Does this mean that Sprint could expand their coverage to Alaska?

Yes, they could.  However I have nothing to confirm that, yet.  Given the significant Clearwire Expedience network in Anchorage that Sprint inherited, you would think they would at least convert that at a minimum.

Fierce wireless calls out S4GRU and says new cell sites are closer to 20,000 not 9,000.

http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/sprint-expand-and-improve-lte-network-may-add-20000-cell-sites/2015-02-26

Called out? Hardly. I believe the 20,000 number that the Fierce source references includes Clearwire sites that Sprint is keeping and not decommissioning. An inadvertent double up of numbers. I was solely focusing on new site adds to the network. S4GRU already counts all the existing unique Clearwire sites in our totals. So I just see the Fierce article as further corroboration to our story.

Do some of these "new" sites include upgrading current GMO's?

GMO upgrades are handled under a different project.  These are completely new sites to the Sprint CDMA/LTE network.

What will be interesting is to see if they learned from previous mistakes with the nv rollout. From the outside Tmo did their LTE so fast it left sprint in an ugly position. Meaning, many were calling sprint a blunder because how did Tmo do it and sprint still was crawling.. We know there was more to it here than what most people knew. However, this time around hopefully it will move much faster. 

I am not expecting 9000 towers in 12 months but some of those already standing nextel towers should have equipment on them asap. That number should be completed by years end.  Sprint is starting to really roll, getting these towers done should really put sprint back in the game.

Not really a fair comparison.  Tmo did not take LTE over its entire network in the timeline you reference.  Also, Tmo already had backhaul in place for its WCDMA network.  Tmo deserves an atta boy for a job well done.  But a direct comparison is not really relevant as you outlined.

Pardon my ignorance - Can anyone explain a "Clearwire Protection Site"? Protecting whom, or what?

 

TIA.

A Clearwire Protection Site, also known as a Substantial Service Site, is a WiMax only site that Clearwire put into place where they do not offer service but held a spectrum license.  In order to meet the FCC minimum buildout requirements for the EBS/BRS bands, Clearwire erected more than 700 of these sites nationwide in 2011/2012.  These essentially "protect" the license by meeting minimum requirements.

this is great. where can we follow new sites? in the regular market-specific forums?

It's hard to say at this point. It depends on how we find out. If it's a small piecemiel regional bit of info, it could be tracked in the market threads. If we find out something worthy of an article, we will post it on the Wall.

Looking at the map they are expanding in maine? Or was that the Northeast?

The map is generally illustrative. It does not indicate any specific area of growth.

this is so AWESOME! if they were to add towers to the dakotas, does that interfere in any way with swiftel? can sprint add towers in the dakotas with out there permission? or how does that work.

The agreement with Swiftel is pretty limited and only covers PCS licenses for the I-29 corridor from Sioux City, Iowa up through Sioux Falls up to Brookings and Watertown. Sprint would be free to set up their own network in the rest of North and South Dakota without infringing on the Swiftel agreement.

However, I wouldn't rule out Sprint buying out Swiftel's wireless division or materially working out terms on a new agreement.