S4GRU

Clearwire markets are getting Band 41 deployments this year. Modesto, Merced, Visalia and Stockton are not Top 100 markets but still getting Band 41 upgrades in 2014. There will be other Clear markets that are outside the Top 100 that will get Band 41 upgrades too. As for non Clearwire markets outside the Top 100, those will only get Band 41 if capacity becomes a problem. In more of a hotspot/relief type scenario. Band 41 in cities smaller than the Top 100 and not in an existing Clearwire market will not likely receive widespread LTE 2600 deployment any time soon. The plan for these areas are not defined beyond emergency hotspot capacity as needed. Robert

If you read the details, this is not good news. It's probably the worst report I've ever seen the past 3 years. It's a lot of bad news, and a few nuggets of hope. But I don't think Masayoshi is looking to jump ship or commit harikari. As for the source, I went back and read his correspondence. He did not say they would report losing over 2 Million subs for the quarter. He said that in the newest report for Q4, Sprint was going to report a loss of over 2 Million subs. I assumed that it was the quarterly number, but it turned out to be the annual number ending the quarter. So the source didn't fail in so much as I did. I should have asked the obvious follow up question. I will do better next time. Sprint saw the numbers were going to be bad and did the great tablet giveaway as a means to boost the numbers artificially. It was done to save face and be able to spin the story and continue the recovery. It probably was a very wise thing to do. Can you imagine what even we would be saying this morning if the tablet adds were not in here? It would be pandemonium! Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

You're in a Shentel area. You shouldn't have any problems selling service. Do people really come in and say, "Yes, I can have the best LTE service throughout our region using Shentel/Sprint for an amazing price, but what if I travel? I wanna make sure I can have Tmo EDGE everywhere I go! Screw this Shentel network everywhere! I want Magenta Tmo only within the city limits of Hagerstown!" If you can't sell Sprint in your area, you shouldn't be in sales. Robert

There would be no way to measure Masayoshi except in degrees of failure if he pulled out on Sprint now. He would have to commit Hari Kari to save face. It would take him months or years to find someone to dump off Sprint to now anyway. It will not take much to fix this from where Sprint is now. But it will not fix itself. He is going to have to do it himself. Robert

New source. We won't know if he's credible until the morning. Robert

It's a new source. I was shocked. Will see if it pans out. But if AT&T, Verizon and Tmo all gained subscribers, where did they come from? Only about 1/4 of them could be new to the market subscribers. Robert

Why? No new info, except to us. He knew that back on December 31st. He knew that was in the cards half way through the 4th Quarter. It started just a few months after he took ownership of the company. This is happening on his watch. He's responsible. What's Mr. Shrewd Billionaire going to do? Cut and run? He would look like an impotent fool. He didn't even take one step to make it better, but bitch in a public article and date Legere. Blowing kisses in his ear. I give Masayoshi more credit than that. Robert

I heard to expect a loss of 2 Million subs. I'm interested to see if that pans out. Robert

Not really. I've only seen two real world speed tests above 70Mbps so far. A 5x5 FDD LTE carrier maxes at 37.5Mbps. However Sprint advertised peak speeds of 25Mbps. So this is to be expected. Robert

It's roughly 90Mbps for a 20MHz TDD LTE carrier in 3:2 in an ideal world with no time link switch lag. Since there is a lag in performance between switching from up to down link time slices, I think 70-75Mbps is the fastest we will ever see without more MIMO or CA. Although I wouldn't be surprised to see 80Mbps in ideal and perfect situations. Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

line walker Robert via Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

On the network side, you're right. The big advantage of buying a CDMA provider over a GSM provider is on the device side. The existing CDMA customers will likely be able to jump on the Sprint network quickly without purchasing a new device. The GSM customers would be forced to migrate to a new phone on the new network when Sprint wants to get rid of the GSM network. Forcing customers to change devices is always a pain in the derriere. It creates a negative image of the new provider with the existing customers. However, it is now easier than ever for a GSM/CDMA carrier to combine networks. And when there is one LTE ecosystem, it will be even better. Robert

They may not. However, it's hard to interpret the signals of their previous divestments to Sprint. Just getting rid of non strategic assets, or, is it a sign of something else? Not much comes out of those walls in the form of gossip. One thing we do know is that USCC and Sprint obviously have easy lines of communication given what has already transpired between them to date. Robert

Purchasing those providers will not be anywhere near the price of what they paid for Tmo. Buying every CDMA provider in the country will be less expensive than Tmo. So the ROI may be there picking up the regionals. But Sprint would have to get them for the right price. Robert

Fortunately for Sprint, they will have a good reason to not support Band 27. Unlike Verizon or AT&T. They will not be able to shake the anti-competitive appearance of using Band 5 over Band 26 in the future. Although, I guess the same exists between using Band 2 over Band 25. I wonder if anyone will ever actually deploy LTE on the exclusive part of Band 27? I imagine getting devices will be a bear without one of the major providers choosing to support Band 27. Robert

I don't know if I have an opinion. I do not have a finance background and don't follow the industry from an earnings perspective. What I come up with would not likely be a profitable scenario, but would just create a kick ass network. Robert

Buy a few of the larger regionals, finish building out all cities with 50K plus people and fill in all interstates from sea to sea. Plus take Spark network wide and deploy beamforming. Then start buying any and all low frequency spectrum that comes on the market. Robert

If he only bought Sprint if he could end up getting Tmo too, then he is an idiot and deserves to lose billions. But I don't think he is an idiot. We will know enough in six more months to probably figure out what he's up to. I'm willing to gamble to see what he does without a Tmo purchase. I think I'm more excited to see what he'll do without Tmo than with Tmo. Robert

Band 27 is Public Safety portion of SMR band. Sprint is only deploying on Band 26, in the public part of the SMR band. Sprint devices are capable of using the entirety of Band 26, which includes the public portion of the SMR band and the Cellular band. So Band 26 capable devices can also roam on Cellular Band LTE, or if Sprint ever picks up any Cellular band licenses, it can deploy LTE on it. Robert

He isn't going to walk away from the ~$30 Billion or so he has invested in Sprint no matter what happens with Tmo. Sprint is not a lost cause. Fire a few dozens executives, pump in a few billion in the network and marketing and you have a new provider. Sprint is close to turning the corner. Someone just needs to do it. Masayoshi knows all this. He didn't spend these billions just turn tail when something else didn't happen just a few months down the road. He would have to be the biggest imbecile ever, and, all of his money would have been made from luck. Instead, what is going on, is he wants people to think that he may bail on Sprint. Maybe even give the impression that Sprint may not even be around if they don't allow Tmo to be absorbed. As if they are headed for 3 providers anyway. So they might as well just approve it. A game of chicken by an Asian billionaire. I say, call his bluff. If he gets shut down now, he will pick up the Sprint ball and run with it. He can turn this puppy around. He just wants to do it the easier way. Absorbing Tmo. It makes the goal in overtaking the first duopoly company within field goal range. Who wants to storm across the field 100 yards if you can start the game in field goal range? Robert

Spark is really just a reference to Band 41 (2600). However, Sprint is using it more broadly now to just mean their entire LTE network. Now Spark capable devices always show the Spark signal when using any LTE signal. However, Spark really never really means Band 26 (800). Sprint is king of changing after the fact for Spark to embody the full capability orbits multi band network. The comprehensiveness of availability on B25, the performance and capacity of B41 and the range and in building availability of B26. All combined into Spark. It's marketing phooey. Spark should have just been limited to B41 in my opinion. And Turbo describes just the B41 with upgraded super fast backhaul. Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

Half Baked Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

1x LTE? Let me guess...it has the same symbol on your phone as regular LTE, but all the performance and calories of 1x? Brilliant! I'll take mine as a half-caff and a soy whip please! Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

As Floorguy said, the Neo is not destined for the US market. Back to the drawing board. Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

CDMA 800 could be usable for 50 miles over open water. It depends on where the site is and how the panels are aimed. To get a distance like that, they would have to be aimed right at you with no downtilt. However, many sites near the water are not deployed with zero down tilt and straight out over the open sea. There is no way to answer specifically what you can expect at all in your specific coverage areas. It could be an increase of as little as a half mile or even more than 20-30 additional miles than before. AT&T may have set up sectors specifically to cover the waterways in your area. Sprint may or may have not done the same. Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro