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cletus

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Posts posted by cletus

    Official Tmobile-Sprint merger discussion thread

    in T-Mobile Merger/5G NR Deployment

    Posted

    10 minutes ago, S4GRU said:

    Yes.  And post merger there will be even more pressure to raise the pricing.  It might be the right thing for the eventual health of the market.  I'm not sure if I am prepared to discuss the merits of that currently.  However, pricing will be under reduced pressure to go up without a 4th carrier to pressure them.  Right or wrong, that's where we are headed.

    I think that there will be a slight rise in pricing eventually. In the short term I expect AT&T to continue to be aggressive and possibly take more subs from T-Mobile/Sprint and Verizon. Of all the carriers I think the one with the most momentum is definitely AT&T. I think what is overlooked lately is that of the carriers only AT&T has a true vision going forward. They want to replace your TV connection with Direct TV Now as a $10 or $30 addon to your phone bill. They want to not only take down cable companies like TWC/Spectrum but also bring pressure on Verizon. 

    So T-Mobile gets this and is trying to scratch around the surface of the problem with Netflix/Spotify deals for subs but I think going forward AT&T's competitive advantage with DirectTV now will be formidable. So T-Mobile/Sprint will probably seek to keep prices low(er) while trying to make gains from more cost effective capex that can be spread over twice as many subs.

    Google Pixel 2 XL by LG Preview/User Thread

    in Google

    Posted

    2 minutes ago, imex99 said:

    Google will swap your 6p for a Pixel XL at no cost due to the battery issues....I would call them and take advantage of it. 

    Yeah, I know, but I already swapped mine for a refurb 6P about 4 months ago and this one works fine. I suppose I could do that and then trade the phone right back in but that doesn't feel right. Google already did me a solid considering I didn't pay for warranty.

    iPhone 8, 8+, X announced

    in Apple/iPhone/iOS

    Posted

    My wife's wifi performance with her Iphone 8 is noticeably worse than my Nexus 6P but her LTE performance noticeably better.

    Half the speeds on 2.4 and 5 ghz. However, her actual throughput on LTE is nearly double what I am able to get. On a tower I was pulling down 32ish she was easily getting nearly 60 down.

    It is kind of interesting and not really an issue (Not like either phone can hit max wifi speeds on my Google Fiber connection anyways).

    Official Tmobile-Sprint merger discussion thread

    in T-Mobile Merger/5G NR Deployment

    Posted

    6 hours ago, dro1984 said:

    Snake... I think Sprint has approached them... for what every reason, Dish's CEO, Charlie Ergen , doesn't seem to like Sprint.   It usually is rejection.     Sprint has always wanted to host other's spectrum... Dan Hesse tried many players... Never really panned out. 

    Here's a snippet from October 7, 2011... from Egaget: " Sprint finally went public with plans to "simplify its network" by converting its 1900MHz holdings and LightSquared's 1600MHz spectrum ("pending FCC approval") to LTE, an industry favorite.  "     

    Does anyone know what ever happened to Lightsquared and their unusable spectrum (it affected GPS) but I thought they found a way around it...?

    I actually have visited the government anechoic chamber that did the GPS testing (White Sands) and work frequently with the group involved. Basically: Even at low power they were treading on the GPS bands and while Lightsquared blamed it on the "filter" (or lack thereof) on many devices, the reality is that they just had bad control of their signal and wanted broadcast at high power levels. They didn't properly take into account propagation and environmental effects (Swerling, etc), and multi-pathing that would often cause the signal to interfere. They refused to even curb signal on the edge to provide protection from this and argued that it was everyone else's fault. In the end they tried MANY different methods of testing and finally had to admit defeat and agree to not deploy AT ALL in 1545-1555 MHz because they could not solve the GPS L1 issues. 

    I've heard they recently settled with Garmin and John Deere for how they can use the spectrum but my guess is that both those companies rightly told them to stay the hell away from their signals and in exchange lightsquared/ligado would maybe provide some kind of preamble signal or some kind of slight modulation that deere and garmin would be able to effectively filter. 

    Additionally, the plans they have for the lower 1525 to 1559 mhz (I think?) block are for internet of things (LOW POWER) type of applications. My view of that is that they simply have given up on going near GPS signal with any type of power that could even come close to interfering. 

    Lastly: It may be true that many GPS devices have insufficient filters on them.. especially legacy devices. So the Garmin/Deere agreement may make the commuters and farmers happy but there are MANY MANY legacy mil GPS devices that simply cannot be updated without huge cost to the government. Time will tell...

    • Like 1

    Official Tmobile-Sprint merger discussion thread

    in T-Mobile Merger/5G NR Deployment

    Posted

    20 hours ago, happyGuy said:

    I want to start off by saying I really don't know much about this stuff... but other than Sprint customers, what exactly would tmobile get from this merger?

    Is that high band sprint spectrum really desirable? for example say they merge with Dish instead... tmobile could double their midband and add 22mhz more to their low band (vs just 14 with sprint).

    I'm just not sure about being saddled with tens of billions in debt via sprint would be worth it. sprint coverage is almost the same as tmobile so merging with Sprint would not expand their coverage very much vs what it is now... 

     and if they would have to divest some of their spectrum, then add the cost of converting all those sprint towers and replacing people's phones.. seems like it would be a lot more cost effective to go after dish (unless tmobile was mostly interested in gaining sprint's customer base).

    I also think if sprint and tmobile merge it might force verizon's hand and they go after Dish. Then again it seems that nobody likes dealing with Charlie...

     

    Well, as I stated above: even growing at 3 mil subscribers a year, it would take T-Mobile 20 YEARS to catch up to AT&T. Simply put this is the only way for them to get to the same scale as AT&T and Verizon. Economy of scale is HUGE when considering that if you have DOUBLE the customers in an area that is immediately HALF the cost per customer to justify a build out/expansion. 

    On the spectrum side, T-Mobile would get access to the very wideband B41 spectrum to use as mass capacity for the expected future needs that customers will have for ever increasing bandwidth requirements. I think it is a better fit than adding low-band/midband to what T-Mobile has currently . Don't forget that with Sprint, T-Mobile gets it all: Lowband 800 MHz, Midband 1900 MHz and Highband 2500 Mhz.

     

    So they would end up with 600 mhz, 700 mhz, 800 mhz. A GREAT way to build out and have more and more coverage to compete with AT&T and Verizon. Lets not forget the reason that it is cheaper for AT&T and Verizon to put up towers is BECAUSE of the low band reach that they have @ 700 MHz and 800 MHz. See Verizon's own image:46HsvyF.jpg

    • Like 2

    Official Tmobile-Sprint merger discussion thread

    in T-Mobile Merger/5G NR Deployment

    Posted

    I don't believe Sprint can make it on it's own, despite being cash positive for the first quarter. TBH If I was looking at the market I would already call this a duopoly.

    T-Mobile might do it but the problem is the other decisions that have happened outside of wireless. AT&T buying DirecTV was huge. Almost every AT&T sub I know has done DirecTV or DirecTV Now and now AT&T is also rumored to buy Time Warner (!).  Have you guys looked at the net additions beyond tmobile and sprint? AT&T had more Q1 2017 net additions than everyone else combined! AT&T and Verizon both had churn around 1.3% (Half of TMobile and Sprint), Each of them have more subs than Sprint Tmobile combined.

    Here is a quick example: lets say T-Mobile continues to have RECORD years of growth. Assuming they stay at 3 million subscriber additions per year then they could catch up to AT&T (the smaller of the two) in a mere 20 years. Meanwhile, Verizon had it's worst quarter or two in basically forever and still had more additions than Sprint! 

    It is either FCC lets Sprint merge with Tmobile and we end up with 3 carriers or Sprint ends up declaring bankruptcy/selling off assets/etc and we end up with a hobbled Sprint and a spectrum contained T-Mobile Versus 2 absolute behemoths.

    • Like 3

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

    in General Topics

    Posted

    Missed the first part because a coworker was talking about work (who does that?)

     

    -50% off promo, etc? extended because they are working

    -Glimpse of Q4 results? None given. Immediately deferred to discussing costs cuts in the upcoming quarters and reduction of headcount

    -Is this improving market share while lowering customer acquisition cost as a strategy? No, this is temporary and they are seeking revenue gain rather than pure market share

    -Churn at Sprint is good right now

    -Is this promo a way to get people in the stores and upsell or a genuine way to get people in the 50% off plan? Sprint will upsell whenever possible but it is a simple message that works.

    -Is take rate of plan better than previous CYBIH promo? Promo is for only 12 months and Sprint has also increased unlimited plan prices at the same time

    -$2.5 Billion cost cutting? 1 billion costs to the savings, Opex such as severance will be and is being addressed, everything is being discussed in costs cutting: roaming, subsidy, marketing costs, NASCAR branding, marketing dollars going local/regional. Network side of the business: Capex to sales ratio high before because IDEN/WIMAX/LTE so that will naturally go down with that simplification. Weekly meetings/gating mechanism for cost goals/stakeouts. This may end in elimination of people. But savings cant be done with just payroll cutting.

    -Network plans densification/small cells/2.5 overlay timing and thoughts? Densification is deployed differently so it has a different impact on the network and how people perceive the change. Picking partners progressively and going to LTE only and combining everything to triband for cost reductions (yawn). Carrier Aggregation is another lever they have "pulled" as well as beamforming (double yawn) and these are software upgrades that can be done overnight to minimize disruption. Densification/femto/small cells but no details there. 

    -misc talk about dropped calls and how much they suck. (I have one really long arm hair, yawn #3)

    -Is this capital intensive? It is less about capex cost but about how the network is improving, capex is moving in the right direction 

    -Network Lease Co status and does it delay some capital? No delay to network improvement. "Soon" "Matter of a few months"

    -Handset Lease Co? Sprint spends $10 billion on handsets/year, $5 billion on capex but capex is a more lasting improvement, 8x better vs handset capital. Took time to explain risk (customer credit, asset risk) but now the structure is in place with residual value that is repeatable. Smaller tranches (orders) can be done so Sprint can do it quarterly to fund Sprint's needs.

    -Liquidity where the balance sheet is to 12-24 months.. maturities/obligations? Diversifying funding services ..(work interrupted this answer) ...Crux of the matter is the cost takeout being important to overall liquidity

    -If you needed more cash, cutting marketing? Sprint could if needed but right now doesn't need to. There is no panic in terms of cash or needing more cash. 1739 initiatives for cost stakeout right now.

    -Cash positive timeline? Deferred to talking about cost cutting

    -How much time is being spent tackling cost vs creating alliances or enhance competitive position? M&A requires improving operating performance and wont be in the cards until performance improves.

    -Auction? 2x10 spectrum in 2021 vs deploying current network Sprint will deploy current. Band size matters more than frequency. You need 2x20 to really drive higher bandwidth rather than 2x10. By the time network deployed 600mhz wont be relevant to Sprint anymore.

    -Handset question? Simple structure, can work with others besides Sprint.. Is just for certain handsets (IPHONES OBVIOUSLY)

    -Sprint as a service company? leasing company doing 100% of handsets? No it is a balanced approach. Leasing is done to kill churn. 2.7 million handsets done and these handsets have a lot of residual value and partners are needed to maximize residual value. There is a true-up at the end and Sprint gets 100% of the upside. 

    -Anything else? Sprint needs to demonstrate they can deliver cost cutting and must execute.

     

    clapclapclapclapclapclap and back to peanuts soundtrack

    • Like 12

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

    in General Topics

    Posted

    Sprint did well! http://www.rootmetrics.com/us/rsr/austin-tx/2015/2H

     

    Sprint should tout more that they are the fastest in data download in key cities

     

     

     

     

    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

    Yep. I knew that Sprint would win #1 speed in Austin. I actually figured the speed would be even higher than that. I am also not surprised at all by AT&T slower speeds as well as Verizon.

    Google Nexus 6P by Huawei (was [Rumor] Huawei Nexus phone?)

    in Google

    Posted

    Have any if you seen or heard of the haptic feedback going out with the keyboard or the home and back arrows on your 6p? This happens to me randomly but for the system settings but the stronger vibration setting will still work. Also using an vibration tester it seems to be working still. I never seen this issue with the Nexus 6.

     

    Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

    Nope. Only weirdness I have seen is the "when device is rotated" settings going back to portrait only instead of rotating. Happened twice since I got the phone. My vibration works fine for everything here and I have the phone always on vibration, never a ringer.

    • Like 1

    What is most important in your next phone purchase?

    in General Topics

    Posted

    I voted Battery Life and Screen Size.

    After having my Nexus 6P for a while now I definitely will not go back to a smaller phone again. It simply fits my needs better. I am still not sold on the whole 1440p - > 4k screens. Until youtube and other services are actually streaming that resolution there isn't a need. Even at 1440p I just don't see the point.

    Similarly, my Nexus 6P has the best battery life I have ever experienced with a phone (although going EVO3D - > Nexus 5 - > Nexus 6P doesn't exactly set a high bar for good battery life). Just last week I ran maps navigation for 2 and a half hours, fiddled around on my phone before flights and at layovers, played some games and ran some speedtests while doing work and I got home at 11PM with 21% battery life. I forgot to plug the phone in after unpacking and showering and it was at 18% when I woke up so I tossed it on the charger while I ate breakfast (30-40 mins) and it was at like 75% when I picked it back up. I regularly don't bother charging the phone overnight now and just use the official charger while I shower and get ready. Fantastic.

    • Like 1

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

    in General Topics

    Posted

    Which is unfair, meaning markets using the other phones could now have different results. Also any market they don't use the same phone for all carriers I'm not happy with. 

     

    I wonder if RM will have the decency to retest those markets (wishful thinking), or are we going to have to wait for them to choose better phones from the start next semester.

     

    I'm really not happy with what's going on for the 2H results. 

    Eh, to be fair both phones do support B41 2xCA. I think Sprint is doing great but the apparent weight put on uplink speeds will hurt them of course.

    • Like 1
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