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by Robert Herron Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Tuesday, January 24, 2012 - 10:01 AM MST Clearwire let loose today with a select reporting of Q4-2011 financial results. Of course, these are cherry picked to get the mood about Clearwire's financials prospects reversed into positive light. However, I must admit they look a little better than I was expecting. Clearwire managed to double revenues from the previous quarter reported in 2010. This is attributable to sizable growth in its wholesale business, of which, a whopping majority comes from Sprint Nextel. Their retail business is experiencing significant churn, which is not a surprise given Clearwire's abandoning their retail business model. I was actually expecting churn to be higher. Clearwire's cash and equivalents are notably higher and cushion the company much better than previous quarterly releases. This is most likely do to Sprint's cash infusions announced last quarter. I think it's too soon to get completely bullish on Clearwire. However, these are definitely positive developments for the beleaguered wireless carrier. Clearwire is sitting on massive spectrum reserves, which add a huge value to the company's spreadsheets. Clearwire continues to plan for and develop its new upcoming 4G TD-LTE network. Clearwire will have to integrate and deploy its new LTE network very carefully and thoughtfully. Currently, Clearwire is very dependent on its WiMax network to bring in the revenues. WiMax revenues are likely near their peak and expected to start declining in the next few quarters. Clearwire will need to try to get LTE to generate revenue at a minimum of dollar to dollar as WiMax declines. And that is looking less likely as the LTE network will not likely generate any revenues until Q4-2012 at the earliest. With the exception of perhaps some prepayments from Sprint. Separately, Clearwire offered $300 Million in Senior Secured Notes to raise additional funding for operations. If I were a betting man, I would wager that Clearwire is releasing these cherry picked Q4 results in order to raise these funds. But I would do the same thing, myself. Clearwire is expected to release full 4th Quarter results prior to the February 17th Q4-2011 Results call. Source: http://corporate.cle...eleaseID=641792

by Robert Herron Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Friday, January 20, 2012 - 1:09 PM MST It's a slow Sprint 4G news day. So I have been saving this write up for just such a moment. We don't want to get stale and boring here at Sprint 4G Rollout Updates. Even if it means delving into the hysterical world of fantastical rumors. A week ago, the Kansas City Business Journal broke with a story about the possibility of Sprint getting an exclusive shot to first carry the iPhone 5 with LTE. Of course, this is all rumor and conjecture. However, if you listen to the analyst Shing Yin of Guggenheim Partners he may be able to convince you otherwise. But there are many Art Bell supporters who believe in aliens too. One of the key points cited to help support such a wild claim is the incredibly high price Sprint is paying for the iPhone. Many folks cannot fathom Sprint would pay so much without an opportunity of an exclusive release at some point. Yet the idea of Sprint getting an exclusive Apple launch product is just too much for many to even begin to comprehend. Given the immature state that Sprint's LTE network will be in come October when the iPhone 5 is anticipated to be released, it just seems very implausible that Apple would chose Sprint as an iPhone LTE launch customer alone. That all being said, just prior to release of the iPhone 4S, there were rumors abounding about an iPhone 5 with LTE coming out being exclusive to Sprint. There were some mock-up pictures, case photos, etc. Is it possible the sources were right, but were talking about something a year away? Stay tuned! Thanks to S4GRU member pyroscott for posting the links in the S4GRU forums. Source: http://www.bizjourna...get-better.html

by Robert Herron Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Thursday, January 19, 2012 - 4:09 PM MST Anonymous is on the rampage! It appears that the famous (or infamous) hacking consortium is displaying its displeasure of the FBI raiding and arresting the head of MegaUpload today. Anonymous is believed to be responsible for taking down the websites of the DOJ, White House and FBI in retaliation. Additionally, just for good measure, Anonymous has also attacked the sites of the Universal Music, MPAA, RIAA, Copyright.com and Senator Chris Dodd's website to apparently demonstrate that it is not pleased at attempts to censor the web through efforts like the SOPA and PIPA bills. Is it just me, or does anyone else picture the creepy record exec from South Park shouting, "I am above the law!" every time I think of SOPA and PIPA? And I don't know about you, but I use MegaUpload all the time for legitimate and legal purposes. A very high number of Android ROM and Theme developers use MegaUpload. There are probably more links to MegaUpload from the XDA website than anywhere. They better leave XDA alone! This site definitely benefits from the ability to exercise free speech. So, here, here, I say!

by Robert Herron Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Thursday, January 19, 2012 - 3:29 PM MST Bloomberg is reporting that billionaire Carl Icahn (with two other investors) has bought out $300 Million worth of bonds from LightSquared bondholders. This begs the question? Icahn coming in as Savior or as a cold hearted liquidator? It seems like an odd time to all of a sudden get faith in the fledging start up that is LightSquared. So motives have to be in question, here. Icahn is reportedly picking up the bonds on the cheap. And as bondholder, he would stand to pick up LightSquared's assets, like its state-of-the-art data satellite and beleaguered spectrum, should the company ever go belly up. However, if the FCC doesn't grant permission for LightSquared's spectrum ever to be used for a terrestrial LTE network, the spectrum is going to be worth much. The spectrum already can be used by less powerful satellite communications, like the satellite that LS2 currently has orbiting the earth. Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-19/icahn-said-to-purchase-lightsquared-debt-in-bet-on-collapse.html Thanks to legion125 for the post in the forums and the link!

by Robert Herron Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Wednesday, January 18, 2012 - 2:29 PM MST OK. I'm gonna stick my neck out there, and I know there are going to be a lot of naysayers that say it can't be done. But I think I may have a solution for LightSquared that could solve their terrestrial LTE network problem. Currently, LightSquared is trying to gain approval to deploy and operate a FD-LTE network on its L-Band spectrum. This L-Band is paired spectrum that has downlink allocated at 1525 to 1559 MHz and uplink allocated at 1625 to 1660MHz. It's in the lower section, the downlink section, where LightSquared is running into all the problems with interference with GPS. In a FDD network, or in LightSquared's case, a FD-LTE network needs paired uplinks and downlinks. Both are needed to have two-way communication in a FDD network. However, LightSquared has run into what seems to be insurmountable resistance in the downlink section of its L-Band spectrum because of lingering GPS interference issues. LightSquared has even offered to use only the lower portion of its downlink spectrum in order to offer more of a buffer from GPS broadcast transmissions. However, this also has not been an acceptable solution to the GPS industry, bureaucrats and many political leaders. So here we are, LightSquared offers solution after solution that has not been accepted. And I won't get into the details and merits of LightSquared case. But what I do want to offer is a possible backup solution. TD-LTE. TD-LTE a viable solution for LightSquared? Everything that I have heard and read to date is that the interference issues are solely located on LightSquared's lower downlink bands. I've heard that the uplink bands are not an issue. So if 1625 to 1660MHz is available without interference, why not use that as unpaired spectrum utilizing TD-LTE? This would not be a quick and easy solution to implement. The FCC will have to approve this unpaired spectrum for use with a TD-LTE network. Although, I can't think of why the FCC would object. It just would take a little bit to get the bloated and inefficient government moving quickly. However, the FCC may be willing to expedite, review and approve this given the difficulties LightSquared has encountered to date. Moving to TD-LTE will cost LightSquared money and time up front. But it will likely be easier to get moving this route than the route they are going. And once things start looking good with the FCC, they would have a much easier go at raising money. It could seriously change the momentum for them, just by even making the decision. I'm sure there are a lot of ramifications. Like getting the LTE consortium to prepare TD-LTE standards at these frequencies. There are probably a lot of device ramifications too. Some of their LTE wholesale partners may not be in favor of it, especially considering how it may affect their device plans. However, Sprint, LightSquared's largest customer and network hoster is already planning on having TD-LTE capable devices in 2013 in conjunction with Clearwire. So this helps. Maybe it's too late for LightSquared to make the switch? Maybe it's too complicated? Maybe it's too practical? Or maybe, it just might work!

by Robert Herron Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Tuesday, January 17, 2012 - 4:09 PM MST Embattled LTE wholesale upstart LightSquared has written a letter to Assistant Secretary Lawrence Strickling of the National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA) and filed with the FCC blasting how Phase 1 testing was conducted on destructive interference trials between their terrestrial LTE network and high precision GPS systems. In the letter, LightSquared starts in the first paragraph, with guns a-blazing, “As you know, from the outset, LightSquared found serious anomalies in NPEF’s test process.” Further claiming that testing was not carried out in a scientifically accurate, fair and unbiased manner. LightSquared Executive Vice President Jeffrey Carlisle complained further in the letter that “We now know that many of the worst performing devices in the test were manufactured years ago, in some cases over a decade; in some cases are testing modules that are not sold to the general public; and in others are niche devices that would rarely, if ever, come close enough to a LightSquared base station to suffer any kind of impact.” LightSquared requested that any future testing needs to be conducted with: Only using the Lower 10MHz channel that LS2 is requesting use of, and Testing needs to be at power levels not exceeding -30dBm In its conclusions, LightSquared said that they hired their own independent testing laboratory. In the letter they claimed, “These test results demonstrate conclusively that LightSquared’s proposed mitigation solution works flawlessly for high precision (GPS) devices.” The test results will be sent to the FCC in the near future (and hopefully made public). And this matters to Sprint, because… LightSquared (LS2) has a LTE spectrum hosting agreement with Sprint. Where LightSquared’s LTE network will be deployed on Network Vision towers. LightSquared would pay Sprint billions for Sprint deploying and hosting LS2’s LTE network. Also under the deal, Sprint can use up to 50% of LightSquared 4G LTE capacity as a wholesale customer. Sprint has said they would only use LS2’s LTE network as additional capacity where needed and rely primarily on its own LTE network. Sprint said last week that they have suspended any work associated with LightSquared until they can get the appropriate federal regulatory approvals. Sprint is not in the position to delay Network Vision deployment for even days at this point. Network Vision, full speed ahead. LightSquared be damned! Things are not looking good for LightSquared. Even if science and technology are on their side. But politics are just not working to their favor at the moment. Can the underdog prevail? Stay tuned. Sprint has currently extended LightSquared’s deadline to get federal approval until the end of January. Which is virtually impossible. We will have to see if Sprint provides another extension. Thanks to @StevenJCrowley for Tweeting the letter. Source: http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/view?id=7021753533

by Robert Herron Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Tuesday, January 17, 2012 - 1:05 PM MST Clearwire has announced that they are beginning trials of their new upcoming TD-LTE network, in conjunction with their GTI (Global TD-LTE Initiative) partner, China Mobile. Clearwire will deploy their TD-LTE in Phoenix, Arizona and Herndon, Virginia. China Mobile will deploy theirs in Beijing and other Chinese communities. As part of the interoperability testing, devices from each others networks will be used to confirm compatibility. The goal of the GTI partnership is to create a device and network ecosystem in which TD-LTE deployed globally between 2.3GHz and 2.7GHz will be fully compatible. To allow for global LTE roaming capabilities and also create one large marketplace for manufacturers to develop chipsets and devices that will work on these frequencies. Also, a collaboration and creation of such a large LTE worldwide band will provide for the ability of these carriers to benefit from economies of scale. If all these carriers go it alone and try to get manufacturers to support just their small frequency set for their limited number of customers, the costs are much higher and also the number of devices available to them will be more limited. Creating such a large interoperable LTE band will be a significant advantage for carriers working in these frequency sets the world over. Clearwire beginning TD-LTE trials is deemed as quick progress given that Sprint just chipped in LTE funding for them in the past 30 days. Sprint will be utilizingClearwire’s TD-LTE network for additional LTE capacity. Sprint will be calling onClearwire to add additional TD-LTE carriers to its Network Vision towers as Sprint’s new LTE carriers start to reach capacity. Sprint’s LTE carriers will probably start filling up in dense markets as soon as 2013/2014. Sprint is not expected to release devices that support TD-LTE on Clearwire frequencies until 2013. Clearwire will be deploying its own TD-LTE as well, separate from additional capacity for Sprint. That deployment is expected to begin before the end of 2012. Clearwire has said in the past they will begin a TD-LTE rollout in existing WiMax cities first. However, they will not likely be rolling out TD-LTE to every WiMax market. Preferring to focus on key primary markets first. It is also anticipated that Clearwire will deploy its LTE in 20MHz TDD carriers. In early testing, this provided download speeds above 60MB, with some results over 90MB. It will be interesting if this kind of carrier deployment actually occurs, but would give Clearwire some potent bragging rights. Currently, Clearwire has WiMax on three carriers in most of the communities it serves. It’s believed that they will reduce the number of carriers to two or one in areas as they rollout TD-LTE. The remaining WiMax carriers will stay in operation through 2015. The final details regarding carrier deployment, carrier sizes, frequencies, etc. will likely not be cemented until after successful trails are completed in Phoenix, Herndon and China. Photo courtesy of PhoneDog.com

by Robert Herron Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Thursday, January 12, 2012 - 10:59 PM MST Drawings were discovered and posted in the Howard Forums this evening showing permit sets of drawings for Network Vision improvements to towers in Lawrence, Kansas. These drawings show detailed before Network Vision, transition configurations and final layouts. This gives a good technical review of exactly how the towers will modified under Network Vision. Interestingly, it includes 1600MHz antennas shown on the plans. These were for LightSquared's LTE. When these drawings were produced over the summer, LightSquared was a part of the mix. LightSquared pre-paid Sprint $900 Million to include early planning and engineering. However, last week Sprint announced they have put all work integrating LightSquared into the Network Vision deployments on hold. In the 10 towers shown in these permit drawings, nearly all types of towers are shown. Monopole, self supporting tower, guyed tower, rooftop/building mount, water tower, etc. Gives a good broad view of what these final Network Vision towers will look like. The drawings show that 800MHz and 1900MHz will be deployed in the same antenna/radio combos. This was a surprise to me. Long live LTE! Network Vision Sites - Lawrence, Kansas: Clinton Lake Tower (SS) Delvin Tower (SS) Douglas County Law Enforcement Center Tower (MP) Lawrence Hill Tower (SS) Lecompton Tower (GT) Plaza Storage Tower (MP) Presbyterian Manor Tower (RF) Spectrasite Baldwin Tower (GT) Wakarusa Tower (MP) Fire Water Tower (WT) I had some problems opening links in my Chrome browser, but it was fine in Firefox, IE and Safari. Special thanks to digiblur for sending me the links! Source: http://www.howardfor...ion-Tower-plans

by Robert Herron Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Thursday, January 12, 2012 - 9:49 AM MST On Wednesday at CES in Las Vegas, Sprint VP of Product Development, David Owens declared that Sprint "won't be introducing anymore WiMax smartphones." Sprint will be focusing its product development efforts from here forward on it's LTE line up. Mr. Owens further went on to say, "April, May, June, July, August, those will be very aggressive times for us". Is this some indication that we can expect LTE devices to start selling in April? Let's hope so! Although the end of WiMax device releases is not a surprising move, there have been rumors of at least one more WiMax device hitting the market. Perhaps the Samsung Galaxy Note. Now those rumors have been squelched. Although the Note still may appear on the Now Network this year, it would likely be an LTE variant. Sprint will continue to roll out future hotspots with WiMax support in tandem with 4G LTE, like the Sierra Wireless hotspot unveiled this week at CES. However, the end of the road has been reached for WiMax and smartphones. It's kind of sad to consider, but we all have high hopes for Sprint's future LTE network. Except for maybe some of you haters! :azn: David Owens went on to say that Sprint is not wild about Windows Phone at the moment saying that Microsoft is not doing enough to promote the product. He said that Sprint may carry Windows Phone products in the future as the OS matures, but not in the very near future. My guess is this has more to do with Sprint trying to make sure that they don't further divide up sales that could go to the iPhone. Sprint has a lot of iPhone sales to make in the next four years. In perhaps the best news of all, Mr. Owens said that Sprint is being more cautious in its announcements for Network Vision and LTE build out. Instead of under delivering on it promises like in the past with 4G WiMax, Sprint is focusing on under promising and over delivering with its new 4G LTE network. The first few markets are going to be announced slowly in the first half of 2012, with a ramp up in the second half of the year. Photo Courtesy of Engadget

Sprint Nextel Schedules Fourth-Quarter and Full Year 2011 Results Announcement OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (BUSINESS WIRE), January 11, 2012 - Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S) will release its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2011 on Wednesday, February 8. The results will be posted at www.sprint.com/investors at approximately 7 a.m. ET. Sprint Nextel management will host a conference call at 8 a.m. ET to discuss the results. Sprint Nextel Conference Call Information Date: Wednesday, February 8, 2012 Time: 8 a.m. ET Call-in Numbers: Toll free: 800-938-1120 (US/Canada) – ID required: 40556064 International: 706-634-7849 – ID required: 40556064 Please plan on gaining access 10 minutes before the start of the call. A simultaneous webcast will be available at www.sprint.com/investors. Please note that questions may only be submitted through the conference call option. Replays of the conference call will be available shortly afterward by calling 800-585-8367 and entering the code: 40556064. About Sprint Nextel Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel served more than 53 million customers at the end of 3Q 2011 and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; offering industry-leading mobile data services, leading prepaid brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. The 2011 American Customer Satisfaction Index showed Sprint is the #1 most improved company in customer satisfaction, across all industries, over the last three years. Newsweek ranked Sprint No. 3 in its 2011 Green Rankings, listing it as one of the nation’s greenest companies, the highest of any telecommunications company. You can learn more and visit Sprint at www.sprint.com or www.facebook.com/sprint and www.twitter.com/sprint.

Sascha Segan of PC Mag is out with a quick hands-on review of the new Sprint LTE/WiMax/3G EVDO hotspot that was announced at CES. Here are some excerpts from the review: Source: http://www.pcmag.com...,2398744,00.asp

by Robert Herron Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Tuesday, January 10, 2012 - 8:51 PM MST Today, Sprint's President of Network Operations, Steve Elfman, commented that Sprint is going to bring its new 4G LTE to its Prepaid Divisions in the future. Not only that, but he took a moment at CES to confirm that they plan to keep unlimited into the future as a way for Sprint to differentiate itself from its competitors. Sprint will likely wait to bring LTE to prepaid when it's LTE network is built out much farther, as well as when the device line up can support it. Especially with entry level LTE devices. Sprint's first devices expected this summer will be flagship and mid-level price points. However, Sprint has announced that they will be releasing between 12 and 15 new LTE devices in 2012. It's also anticipated that Sprint will release 4G LTE devices to their MVNO partners at some time in the future. Source: http://ces.cnet.com/8301-33363_1-57356652/sprint-plans-to-bring-4g-lte-to-prepaid...eventually/

by Robert Herron Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Tuesday, January 10, 2012 - 7:51 PM MST According to the thecellphonejunkie.com, prices for the new Sprint Galaxy Nexus LTE is to be $200 and the new LG Viper 4G LTE is to be $100. They will more likely be $199 and $99 respectively. It looks like Sprint is trying to undercut Verizon's pricing. However, I would fully expect that Verizon will more than likely have lowered it's price to match Sprint's by the time they get their LTE devices released. The source link reports that the model is to be 16GB, however, Sprint confirmed today that they are selling only the 32GB model. One key differentiator between the Verizon and Sprint models is that Sprint's Galaxy Nexus will have Google Wallet from the get-go. Verizon specifically has ordered their Nexii without Google Wallet. Though workarounds exist for Verizon customers to force it. Also, it turns out that the reported 1.5GHz dual core processor info leaked last week was a typo. The Sprint model of the galaxy Nexus will be 1.2GHz dual core, just like the Verizon model. This information came out of the Sprint CES Event this evening at the Venetian. Hopefully more juicy info to follow. http://thecellphonej...exus-to-be-200/ Photos courtesy of phonenews.com

Sprint 4G Rollout Updates is the prime source for Sprint Network Vision and 4G information on the internet. We scour hundreds of sources every day to bring you breaking news about Sprint, LTE, WiMax, new 4G devices, etc. If you want the latest in what's going on at Sprint related to Network Vision and LTE deployment and all other network information, than look no further than S4GRU. We have our own website here with forums and on social media at Facebook, Twitter and Google+. Come join us on Sprint's Network Vision journey here at Sprint 4G Rollout Updates. And thanks to all you tag along! Sprint 4G Rollout Updates on Facebook . . . . . . . Sprint 4G Rollout Updates on Twitter @Sprint4Grollout . . . . . . . Sprint 4G Rollout Updates on Google+ Sprint 4G Rollout Updates on the Web at http://www.S4GRU.com

Sprint is now officially announcing the Galaxy Nexus LTE! Also, in the link Sprint announces it's second LTE device, the LG Viper LTE. Exciting. http://www.sprint.com/landings/lte/index.html?ECID=MA:AB:20120109:CES:GLX:NXS:300x1050 Click on image to enlarge

Sprint officially announces three new 4G LTE devices. The Galaxy Nexus LTE, which was rumored last week is now confirmed. Also another smartphone, the LG Viper 4G LTE and a new MiFi hotspot that will run on 3G, WiMax and LTE. Exciting developments today! The LG Viper 4G LTE... The Sierra Tri-Network MiFi Hotpot with 3G, WiMax and LTE The Galaxy Nexus LTE... Click image to enlarge Source: http://www.sprint.co...LX:NXS:300x1050

by Robert Herron Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Saturday, January 7, 2012 - 6:51 AM MST DISCLAIMER: This is unverified. It sounds great, and hopefully true. But I am not vouching for it's validity... I awoke to the sound of e-mails pinging in my inbox on my Epic 4G Touch on my nightstand. Several S4GRU readers tipping me off to a new YouTube video sporting some Sprint 4G LTE speed tests. The results are quite impressive. Download speeds over 40MB, and upload speeds around 5MB. The poster says that upload speeds are currently capped at 5MB. This is off a single 5x5 FD-LTE carrier. Even though the results are from a completely unburdened network, what excites me is this is faster than a 5x5 LTE carrier is anticipated to perform. AT&T has deployed 5x5 LTE carriers in Chicago and is getting 20+MB download speeds from it. And that is with some burden. But even AT&T's LTE network is in its infancy at the moment with not a lot of users. The poster even goes on to download two large files simultaneously and do a speed test and still got a very respectable 35MB download speed. I cannot even do that with my home ISP. Not even close. You can expect Sprint's LTE speeds to come down drastically once they start to actually be burdened with real life users. One source says that Sprint is still deciding on speeds to advertise, but said they will likely be 5MB - 10MB download speeds, with bursts over 15MB. Still very respectable. And in comparison to Sprint's 3G network, I think we can all be happy with that. Also, do not read too much in the Speed Test saying the tester is in Houston. He says he is in San Antonio. And that's believable. When I tether my laptop to my Sprint 3G here in New Mexico, the speed test website says I'm in Dallas or Houston, when obviously I'm in New Mexico. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xihFQBwqfc

by Robert Herron Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Thursday, January 5, 2012 - 1:35 PM MST In the Citi 2012 Entertainment, Media and Telecommunications Conference, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse spoke to investors. In his comments, Mr. Hesse included some breaking news for Network Vision. Dan Hesse announced that Network Vision will be launched in 10 markets by the end of June. This would include 4G-LTE deployments. He said it will be in 4 primary markets and 6 unnamed smaller markets. He named the primary markets as Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Atlanta. I wonder what the smaller markets will be? Mr. Hesse discussed that the LTE Sprint is currently deploying is in the PCS G-Block, where they only have enough spectrum for one 5x5 FD-LTE carrier. He said that Sprint's goal is to get to 10x10 LTE carriers, through carrier aggregation advancements that will be available in 2013/2014 time frame with LTE Advanced. Sprint will be deploying Voice on 800MHz initially in one carrier with Network Vision deployments now under way. Sprint devices with CDMA capability on 800MHz will be able to use them right away. Later LTE will be added on 800MHz too as iDEN is fully decommissioned. 800MHz voice coverage will significantly expand coverage and reduce burdensome roaming costs to Sprint. "The technology to do Network Vision just did not exist a few years ago," Mr.Hesse said when speaking about the timing of Network Vision. He reiterated that this is the earliest time all the technological advancements are ready and mature enough to handle a rapid nationwide deployment. And we here at Sprint 4G Rollout Updates are hoping they indeed are going to be rapid! Mr. Hesse acknowledged that the iDEN network has been a huge financial and resource drain on Sprint and since the merger they "have been kicking the can down the road" with iDEN. He says this philosophy is now coming to an end with Network Vision underway. He warned investors that churn rates will go up now that they are removing Nextel customers from the iDEN network and trying to get them on to the new Sprint Direct Connect network. But decommissioning iDEN is more core to Sprint's long term strategies in reducing cost, simplifying the network andrepurposing the iDEN spectrum for LTE and voice. Even though significant post-paid churn is going to result from the removal of the iDEN network, the cost savings are going to more than pay for those lost revenues. Mr. Hesse went on to say that iDEN decommissioning will add $5 Billion of savings that will go to fund the back half of Network Vision. Mr. Hesse also made some comments about the LightSquared drama. He said that Sprint has put all activity in regards to integration and work on theLightSquared LTE network on hold. He said Sprint is ready and prepared to resume with LightSquared should progress be made. However, as Mr. Hesse proceeded, he played up Sprint's position with Clearwire as its long term spectrum resource. Dan also mentioned that iPhone financial details will be coming out at the end of the month. In response to a question about Unlimited Data, Mr. Hesse mentioned that Sprint is planning to maintain unlimited offerings for the forseeable future. But warned that after Network Vision is deployed, Sprint may look at ways of identifying and removing unlimited data users who are abusing the system. You folks who tether your phones as your home ISP are on notice! Sprint Market Maps of the announced markets: Dallas. DFW Sprint market. Click image for full view. Houston. Houston Sprint market. Click image for full view. San Antonio. San Antonio Sprint market. Click image for full view. Atlanta. Atlanta/Athens Sprint market. Click image for full view. EDITED 3/5/2012: To include market maps.

Engadget reveals that a Sprint ad has shown up on the CNET website pushing a LTE Galaxy Nexus. Wow. Now I'm excited. That was not expected. And also, it says it has a 1.5GHz dual core processor, beefier than the GSM and Verizon model with 1.2GHz dual core. This seems too good to be true. Of course, we want some details! When is it going on sale? What frequencies of LTE will it support? Is it not coming out until summer, like previously announced? Is the LTE part a typo? Details, Dan! C'mon!!! Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/05/galaxy-nexus-sprint-rumor/

SprintFeed.com is reporting a rumor from an internal source that Sprint is getting the massive Samsung Galaxy Note. The slightly awkward and obese brother to the Samsung Galaxy SII series is larger than any smartphone, but smaller than 7" tablets. What is not known at this time is what kind of network Sprint's model of the Note would support. Would it be 3G only? Would it run on the nearly obsolete 4G WiMax? Perhaps LTE? Yeah, I know that the LTE idea is far fetched, but I had to throw it out there. Sprint is likely to make this announcement at CES next week in Las Vegas. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRxjopfC1Gs Source: http://www.sprintfee...ding-to-sprint/

by Robert Herron Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Monday, January 2, 2012 - 10:38 AM MST The original deal struck between Sprint Nextel and LightSquared was contingent on the FCC granting approval of LightSquared's request to terrestrial wireless service on the L-band spectrum by December 31, 2011. Today, it was announced that Sprint is allowing a 30-day extension to LightSquared to get approval from the FCC. Political storm clouds have been steadily gathering against LightSquared in the past few months in its battles against the FCC and the GPS industry. And in December, things started to look even more ominous for LightSquared approval. LightSquared in the past week is near demanding the FCC give a ruling right away. Whether the answer is yes, or no, LightSquared wants to get on with the business of what it's going to do next. They have been stuck in bureaucratic purgatory. Sprint is also stuck in limbo with LightSquared. They would love for LightSquared to get approval and host their terrestrial LTE network. Sprint stands to gain billions from a functioning LightSquared terrestrial network hosted on their Network Vision. However, Sprint cannot stand by and wait with LightSquared indefinitely. And that's what this new deadline will hopefully do. It will give LightSquared a little more time to get a definitive answer from the FCC. It is possible that Sprint will extend the deadline again after this one expires. But it would probably require some movement be made on the issue. If things do not improve for LightSquared's position in this extension period, Sprint may be tempted to just let the deadline pass without another extension. And just go back to the negotiating table should LightSquared ever get federal approval. However, I'm not holding my breath for that to happen. It's an election year now, by golly! Source: Wall Street Journal

by Robert Herron Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Friday, December 30, 2011 - 1:39 PM MST OK, OK! I can't resist the ridiculous speculations of what 2012 will bring. Some of these are things that I think will happen, some I think may happen, some are just fun guesses to stir up discussion and controversy. It was once said that, "Only fools, charlatans and liars try to predict earthquakes." I think the same can be said for those who make predictions for the upcoming year. I think the quote above is even fitting in our instance. You can decide for yourself which one of three I am. Here we go with nine bold and foolish predictions... 1. LightSquared gives up and folds shop LightSquared fails to get the FCC off the dime, and stalled bureaucracy takes it toll. Without the ability to raise more money because of the bureaucratic limbo they are stuck in, LightSquared runs out of cash to keep operating. What happens to the spectrum and their satellite in orbit? I could see a wireless carrier picking up that satellite for a steal. And that satellite functions on LightSquared frequencies without interfering with GPS. Could be very interesting. Maybe a Verizon roaming satellite? Sprint? It could be juicy to offer nationwide coast to coast phone and data via satellite for any national carrier. 2. Dish works out a deal with Sprint to host their spectrum I think Dish plays out a three way negotiations for the best deal it can get. Playing AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile against each other to score the best deal possible for itself and it's LTE ambitions. I think Dish Network wants to partner with Sprint the most, because it will be able to deploy their network nationwide the least expensive and fastest on Sprint with Network Vision. But Dish's CEO Charlie Ergen is so clever (so I hear) that he will make everyone think that's he's willing to make a deal with any of these carriers or even go it alone. And for this, Sprint will give up the farm in these negotiations. But in the end, Sprint and Dish both win from the agreement. Even if Dish gets it from Sprint at the lowest price ever imagined. And Wall Street will be pissed at Dan Hesse, as always. 3. Sprint Network Vision deployment stays on schedule Contrary to what the loud naysayers say about Sprint, I believe Sprint will stay on schedule with Network Vision. I will predict that LTE will be live in 30 markets by the time devices get released. Progression of deployment will stay fast. Sprint will even slightly exceed it's 123 Million LTE POP's by the end of 2012. Yep, I said it. I'm believing the hype! 4. Sprint LTE devices release after a slight delay Sprint's LTE device development will stay largely on schedule. However, devices don't come out until late summer. Maybe USB or a MiFi come out a little earlier, but no smartphones until Labor Day or early October. First device, HTC Evo LTE. A quadcore ICS device based on the HTC Edge (which will have already released on other carriers). A new Samsung Epic with an Unnecessarily Long and Awkward name (with LTE somewhere in the title) will also release soon after the Evo, and it will be based on the Samsung Galaxy SIII, which will also already have been released by other carriers months previously. The early smartphones will only support LTE on 1900 and possibly 800, but will not support Clearwire's TD-LTE on 2500. The first Sprint Android smartphones with 2500MHz TD-LTE capability will not be sold until 2013. One caveat for the iPhone with LTE, see below. 5. iPhone LTE comes out but does not support Sprint's LTE frequencies In the one scandal of the year (and we will have to give the Sprint naysayers at least one), the iPhone with LTE comes out in October. It will have a new form factor, a larger screen (around 4") and the world will be stoked. However, in a shocking and deeply saddening turn of events for Sprint customers, it won't support LTE on 800 or 1900. But it will on 2500 (because of China Mobile). And chaos ensues because Sprint customers will only be able to use LTE on Clearwire spectrum, and not on Sprints LTE. Pressure mounts for Clearwire to start deploying it's LTE, which is likely just beginning. And never will provide the coverage that will be acceptable. BTW, I sure hope this doesn't happen. But it's something I fear, since Sprint is the only carrier planning LTE on 800 and 1900 in the world in the near future, AFAIK. And it may be one of the reasons why Sprint has buried the hatchet with Clearwire, because Sprint has already been given a heads up about the frequency issue. Just sayin'... 6. Clearwire deploys first TD-LTE tower By October, Clearwire starts testing a few towers of TD-LTE on 2500. A slow but steady TD-LTE rollout begins in November/December time frame. Clearwire sets up a two-prong approach for it's LTE deployment. The first goes around and adds LTE to existing primary markets, starting in the largest cities and completely ignoring the many tertiary markets (like Abilene and Modesto). The second goes around adding hotspot LTE capacity where Sprint needs it. But this will start slow, because I believe the only Sprint device that will support Clearwire TD-LTE in 2012 is the new iPhone (and possibly some USB and MiFis). This will deploy on a tower by tower basis, and only on Network Vision converted towers. 7. Third Party WiFi roaming deals catch on for Wireless Carriers As carriers start feeling the spectrum crunch for data, large full city WiFi deployments become an answer. The company Towerstream, and possibly other startups, gain traction with their business model of city-wide WiFi. Carriers work out roaming deals with Towerstream (and others) that their customers devices can roam on their WiFi network. This is actually a genius idea and carriers need to get on board. It's a great idea in dense primary markets, where most of the network strain occurs. And TV white space is not going to be an option in the largest markets. If you can get 20MB download speeds off Towerstream WiFi all over the city included in your wireless carrier's service...well, I think we'd all be happy with that. 8. TV White Spaces start to gain momentum for Wireless So many people are putting hopes on TV White Spaces. And they are very exciting for the thought for use in wireless. TV White Space frequencies, from 100MHz to 600MHz carry far distances and penetrate everything except for earthen concrete bunkers (slight exaggeration). Can you imagine a 100MHz LTE tower? Living in rural New Mexico, I sure can. Although it will take years to develop networks and devices to run in white spaces, 2012 will be the year where it really starts to get traction. Each TV channel is 6MHz wide. So it takes two contiguous TV channels to place one 5x5 LTE carrier, and it takes 4 contiguous TV channels to place one 10x10 carrier. Separate carriers, aggregated with LTE Advanced could also be a solution. However, this will not be a solution for primary markets, as most do not have 2 to 4 free TV channels to use. Some secondary markets will have some available, especially west of the Mississippi. However, the big winner in TV White Space are tertiary and rural markets, especially in the West and Midwest. Lots of TV White Space to be had. And given that it's the tertiary and rural markets who need access to wireless broadband the most, and will benefit most from the vast distances of 100MHz and 200MHz signals propagation, well it's going to be a winner. But since devices that run on TV White Spaces will need to be able to run on the whole frequency set from 54MHz to 699MHz, and are not interfered with from adjacent TV broadcasts (whichbroadcast at much higher power limits). It's going to be a little bumpy developing devices and chipsets that do this all seamlessly and without killing device batteries quickly. However, the thought of setting up giant 200MHz towers out in rural Western states that reach 30 miles radius out from the tower really get me excited. No more dead spots in the boonies! 9. AT&T gets very aggressive trying to secure more spectrum This is kind of a no-duh prediction. But AT&T will have to get creative and aggressive to get the spectrum it needs for data. It will either grossly overpay and drive up spectrum costs for any spectrum that ends up out there on the market, or they may even get down in the trenches and make a deal with their sworn enemies Sprint and Clearwire for some EBS/BRS spectrum. But there will be a lot of news about AT&T's pillaging quest for spectrum in 2012.

A letter to all our fans and supporters: As we get to the final business day of 2011, I can't help to think back on the past year. Some of you know my background, and others of you just joined along for the ride at some point in the past few months, or weeks. At the beginning of 2011, there was no S4GRU. I was just another Sprint customer with his Evo 4G, waiting for 4G service to come to his tertiary market. I bought the Evo on opening day, June 4, 2010. I had been an AT&T customer since they bought out Cingular a few years before. AT&T had great coverage in California and Nevada. But in early 2010, I moved to Northern New Mexico. And AT&T asked me to leave, because I was killing them in roaming costs in my new location. So in May 2010, I started looking for a new wireless carrier. Sprint had good coverage in my area and I heard they were coming out with a 4G phone. It also appeared like they were aggressively deploying their 4G network. Even before the phone started selling, they already had dozens of markets up and running though Clearwire. I thought it was smart to buy a 4G phone, since my contract would be for two years. I figured it would be crazy to buy a 3G-only phone for a two year commitment. So I chose Sprint and the Evo. All throughout 2010, Sprint and Clear announced 4G expansions quite readily. So I was largely happy with deployment progress. But just hoping it would pick up a little pace and start getting to secondary markets. However, 2011 started, and the announcements stopped. February, March...nothing. Then one day in late April, I am sitting at a stop light in Santa Fe, New Mexico and my Evo decides to randomly reboot (which it occasionally did before I installed a custom MOD). When it came back online, the 4G antenna came on and locked on to a signal. What??? So, I pulled into a parking lot and tried using it. First speedtest, and I got 9.1Mbps download. Whoa! This is the real deal. I've got 4G!!! WooHoo!!! This event caused me to be optimistic that 4G WiMax expansion must be alive and well. But I am a curious guy and wanted to know what was going on. If Sprint and Clear are still expanding service, why aren't they announcing it to their customers? I could see on forums that people were getting angrier and angrier about the state of Sprint's 4G rollout. Why aren't they trumpeting the expansion? I come across Clear's coverage maps and see little light green blobs in hundreds of locations all across the country. Are these test signals? What's going on? I drove to all the new service areas in my region and tried the signals. They all were up and running, but with varied results. In Las Vegas, New Mexico I couldn't get 4G speeds higher than 1.3Mbps, and in Albuquerque I was able to even get over 10Mbps. I started hitting about a half dozen forums and proclaiming to everyone who would listen, "turn on your 4G antennas and scan for service! Sprint has unannounced coverage all over the place!" By May 20th, I started posting service updates in assorted forums, telling folks about where Sprint and Clear had unannounced service. And that's when I started to learn the story of Protection Sites. That these sites were deployed by Clearwire to meet FCC buildout requirements for the spectrum and protect from losing it's FCC license. And then it all made sense. Regardless of why, these signals were usable. And millions of customers would be able to find a meaningful use for them. So I continued my quest to bring updates to the masses, letting them know where new Protection Sites were popping up. In July, we started our Facebook page, and that's when we really took off. In October we added Twitter. In November we added Google+. We really stuck our necks out there on November 10th when we started our own web page. Not just a simple static page, but a full online social community. A place where I can blog original stories and we can interact with them. We are still in the beta stage. So, now we are up to the New Year. 2012 lays mere hours away. And there has never been a more exciting time to be a Sprint customer. Granted, it is a painful process. 3G Data rates have been especially excruciating for many Sprint customers. But with Network Vision beginning and LTE deployment under way, 2012 promises to be a rocking year. One thing is for sure, not matter the outcome, Sprint 4G Rollout Updates will be along for the ride. Bringing you information as fast or faster than even most tech websites. And you won't have to sift through dozens of articles that are not relevant to the Sprint Network and 4G. Straight to the point stories and fast. That's our mission. And lots of geeky details that other websites won't report (or Sprint for that matter). Don't be surprised if we start selling advertising or do things to help pay for the costs to keep this thing running. But I'm now committed to this experiment for the long haul. I'm very excited to bring this info to you in the most dynamic way I can. And Dan Hesse, if you should happen to read this, when can I get my exclusive interview? Our fans have a few questions for you! Happy New Year, Robert Herron Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Follow link for my predictions for 2012: http://s4gru.com/index.php?/blog/1/entry-109-2012-predictions-from-sprint-4g-rollout-updates/ And a special thanks to my wife Christina. She is the most loving, patient and loyal life partner a man could ever ask for. I have spent hundreds and hundreds of hours on S4GRU the past six months. Thanks for your support. 2011 QUICK STATS: Total Fans & Supporters, all media: 1522 Facebook Fans...726 Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Unique Visitors, not Members*...512 Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Website Members...133 Twitter Followers...81 Google+ Subscribers...70 S4GRU Member Breakdown 87% Male 13% Female Top 20 Most Popular Cities S4GRU unique visits from: Phoenix, AZ Indianapolis, IN San Diego, CA Chicago, IL Tucson, AZ Virginia Beach, VA Milwaukee, WI Wichita, KS Tampa, FL Lexington, KY Louisville, KY Des Moines, IA Tulsa, OK Dayton, OH Lincoln, NE Detroit, MI Knoxville, TN Troy, OH Elkhart, IN Oshkosh, WI Languages site viewed in: 91% English (US) 4% English (UK) 2% Spanish 1% Arabic 1% English (Pirate) 1% German Biggest External Referrers to Website: Facebook Twitter community.sprint.com google.com goodandevo.net sprintusers.com Yahoo Mail engadget.com forums.androidcentral.com howardforums.com s4gru.herronweb.com Gmail theverge.com ask.com Sprint 4G Rollout Articles in 2011: 180 Top 20 Most popular articles: 2,360 Page Views New Network Vision and LTE Deployment info released in Sprint Webinar today 2,109 Page Views Sprint deploys first Network Vision cluster in Kankakee, Illinois and promises LTE deployment info early in 2012 1,344 Page Views New Sprint Network Enhancements & Upgrades Site 1,196 Page Views Sprint announces first Network Vision tower with CDMA & LTE live 541 Page Views New Samsung commercial stirring controversies. Really? Get a life. 422 Page Views Sprint Announces Exclusive Event at CES in January 421 Page Views Sprint releases slides from today's Network Vision Strategy Update 396 Page Views Clearwire is Abandoning it's Legacy Pre-WiMax Service 357 Page Views BREAKING NEWS: Sprint rolling out Network Vision in Chicago right now! 347 Page Views Sprint not beginning LTE deployment necessarily in WiMax area first 332 Page Views Sprint 4G Strategy Update Conference - Our Facebook Wall Comments 317 Page Views Clearwire throws hail mary and ends up with $700+ Million for new TD-LTE network 299 Page Views Sprint changes LTE device due date from Mid 2012 to Q3/Q4 2012 and controversy ensues 293 Page Views BREAKING NEWS: Clearwire announces funding deal with Sprint 289 Page Views Sprint to Offload Commercial Airave's at Your Work and Favorite Destinations 255 Page Views Seeking Alpha: How Sprint & Clearwire Can Use AT&T to Unlock Billions in Value 251 Page Views Clearwire's future LTE network and the equity funding it needs to build it 240 Page Views Sprint VP talks up LTE-Advanced, VoLTE and HD Voice in new video 215 Page Views Jay Leno Mocks Sprint iPhone on Tonight Show 208 Page Views Sequans ties with Fujitsu for LTE chips * These are unique IP addresses who visited more than twice, and the IP addresses are not connected to any known registered Member

Forbes is out with an article today that paints a more realistic view of Sprint’s current financial situation. Sprint has taken a beating in the financial press since October. The stock has slid to new lows, now causing the stock to be undervalued relative to it’s assets. It’s finally nice to see a realistic view, instead of the exaggerated negative reports we’ve seen. The past year has not been rosy for Sprint, especially financially. But the future looks like it can be very good. Sprint is taking all the right steps for it’s future. There is only one road out of the predicament Sprint finds itself currently in. And it’s charted course through the iPhone, Network Vision and LTE is the best one it can take at this juncture. Will it pay off? Time will tell. Jump to the Forbes article by clicking the image above or the link below. Feel free to weigh in with your thoughts as well. Forbes Article: http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2011/12/29/sprint-still-worth-4-25-despite-iphone-deal-debt-concerns/

by Robert Herron Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Tuesday, December 27, 2011 - 11:29 AM MST In a press release today, Sprint discusses some Network Vision updates, including that they have completed their first Network Vision cluster of upgrades in the Northern Illinois city of Kankakee. This makes the first community in the U.S. with a full Sprint LTE deployment (as far as we know). Although, there will be no devices available for customers to use these LTE signals until approximate Midyear 2012. Bob Azzi, a Sprint Senior Vice President of Networks, even raised the ante when he said, "we expect to maintain and even accelerate this momentum in 2012." Eluding to a possible further acceleration of deployment. In this latest Kankakee deployment, Sprint has installed several Network Vision towers over the community, and using this area as a test bed for final network configuration and future devices. This is an important step to make sure that devices will be able to not only transfer from tower to tower on the same frequencies, but also from frequency to frequency and from technology to technology (EVDO to LTE, etc.). Also of note, is there is a WiMax protection site in Kankakee deployed by Clearwire in the Summer of 2011. So this location can also be used to test transferring between WiMax and other technologies, also. In a review of the Sprint Network site, nothing really stands out to help identify this work as being associated with Network Vision in the Kankakee area. The Kankakee launch was successful and went as anticipated. This is likely the last hurdle to make sure that no final adjustments would need to be made for devices as ordered from OEM's, or if adjustments would need to be made at the towers for devices. Testing associated with this Kankakee deployment is likely the last hurdle before Network Vision starts to go full bore ahead. If you are in the Kankakee area, or will be in the near future, take your Sprint devices down there and let us know what you encounter. Especially devices that run on 800MHz. Since this was a testing deployment, 800MHz may even be a part of the mix there. Would love to hear some confirmation of that. Sprint said, "(We are) on track to offer LTE devices by mid-year 2012 and complete the majority of its Network Vision rollout in 2013. Sprint expects to make additional announcements about the timing of LTE markets and devices early next year." We will be waiting for updates with baited breath! Also in the press release, Sprint said they are in the process of "validating rapid LTE deployment schedule." Maybe they can release it upon validation??? Kankakee, Illinois as seen at the network.sprint.com website. UPDATE 12/28/2011 11:01 AM MST: There were 14 FIT towers in the test. Only two were technically in the Kankakee area just to the east of town. The rest are to the east in Western Indiana. Source: http://newsroom.spri...article_id=2152