WiWavelength

My understanding from Robert's posts is that the impending financial goal has been met. Thank you, everyone. Many donated. I contributed, too. So, S4GRU will not go dark. Good! But may I suggest at least a $5 monthly recurring contribution? I do. If enough of our members would do so at this level, we likely never would have a financial need again. If you appreciate S4GRU, think of it as a burger, half a pizza, only once per month. S4GRU remains member supported. We stick around as long as you want us to stick around. AJ

S4GRU never has intended to be a Sprint advocacy site, only an education site -- focused mostly on Sprint, though we have branched out to other topics over the years. Honestly, we do not care which wireless provider you choose, only that you make an informed decision. However, many members have said that they stayed with Sprint purely because of the information they learned here. Even if that numbers just 100 subs -- and the number probably is a lot greater -- that is a lot of revenue per year. It would be nice if Sprint were surreptitiously to send S4GRU a little "thank you" donation. Overland Park, are you listening? AJ

NASCAR skews so Southern, redneck, and blue collar that it is not a great demographic from a business standpoint. My father was on a regional car dealer advertising board that explored being a high level sponsor at the Kansas Speedway but declined because the demographic was not worth the expense. That said, the Nextel sponsorship made sense when Direct Connect still was a thing, since PTT fit in with the NASCAR "pit row" mindset and fan lifestyle. Not to mention, between Nextel and SouthernLINC, iDEN had a pretty fine coverage footprint in the Southeast. AJ

When you get to Bavaria -- southern Germany -- you may not know the language. But, at least, you should make an effort to speak in the local vernacular, such as, "Guten tag, my family and I are looking for sex." AJ

Yeah, so what? T-Mobile gets effort credit for most everything. "Well, they're trying. Good for them. Yay, team Magenta!" But if Sprint made a half assed, low density coverage footprint expansion, people would call it "shit." AJ

Yeah, a lot of low density, crap coverage. AJ

You left out Tahiti. Don't forget Tahiti. AJ

That sounds like a problem of your own creation -- because you decided to flash an alternative OS ROM. Caveat emptor. Take up the issue with the developers. Or do not flash, and stick to stock OS ROM, which is guaranteed and covered under warranty. Regardless, this thread will be locked soon. AJ

Well, it is about time. But as Omaha long has been a major Cox market, maybe T-Mobile was "Cox blocked." AJ

Yes. If I ran the zoo, said young AJ McGrew, that is just what I would do. In still intact PCS A/B block 30 MHz (15 MHz FDD) markets -- and some cobbled together PCS A-G block spectrum acquisition markets, especially PCS C block or PCS C5 block -- get to a band 25 primary or secondary 10 MHz FDD carrier this year. John Saw, are you listening? AJ

Yes, this is the last known photo of Gary Forsee. And, to think, he wanted to be a latex salesman. He had no shot. Kel Varnsen…er...AJ

Any band 25 second carrier in the Bay Area will have to be 5 MHz FDD for quite some time, since Sprint years ago partitioned, disaggregated, and traded away to the former AT&TWS the upper 10 MHz (5 MHz FDD) of Sprint's PCS A block 30 MHz (15 MHz FDD) license in the Bay Area. http://people.ku.edu/~cinema/wireless/spcs.html#SanFran That seemed like a good trade 15 years ago, as Sprint still could run up to seven CDMA2000 carriers. CDMA2000 was so efficient that Sprint had excess spectrum at the time. Not anymore. Times have changed. With LTE, you know that Sprint would kill to have that PCS A block partition and disaggregation back again in the Bay Area. So, for any band 25, that means the Bay Area presently is limited to PCS A block 20 MHz (10 MHz FDD) and PCS G block (5 MHz FDD). And, of course, some CDMA2000 operations have to continue in the PCS A block. I would like to see three CDMA1X carriers and just one EV-DO carrier, alongside the 5 MHz FDD second carrier. With a little bit of guard band and PRL creativity, it could be done. In the still intact PCS A/B block 30 MHz (15 MHz FDD) contiguous markets, a band 25 second carrier is pretty easy to carve out. Expect those markets to go band 25 second carrier 10 MHz FDD this year. AJ

But I don't wanna be a pirate! AJ

I would have to go back and check, but I think that Nextel brought in the bulk of BRS spectrum. In BRS and/or EBS, Nextel was testing its Flash-OFDM data network precursor to WiMAX and LTE. As I recall, Nextel got significant BRS assets out of the MCI WorldCom demise around 10-15 years ago. On a related note, remember that Sprint and MCI WorldCom agreed to a $130 billion merger during the tech bubble, circa 2000. Thank god that abomination did not pass regulatory scrutiny. Sprint probably would have gone down with the Titanic -- would be absorbed as bits and pieces into the Twin Bells by now. But as for the $50 billion, Sprint did not get much ROI on Nextel subs, no doubt. Consider, though, the pre recession time frame of 2005. Valuation was different then. AJ

I will offer something of a counterpoint. I am not defending Gary Forsee. I do not care at all to support or criticize the guy, am just presenting a neutral observation. What if, by way of the Nextel merger, which came under his watch, Forsee and Sprint fell ass backward into a treasure trove of spectrum? Low band SMR 800 MHz. And especially droves of high band BRS/EBS 2600 MHz spectrum -- but soon to be considered mid band spectrum, relative to LTE-U, EHF, VLC, etc. That is not so bad. Forsee may be the "Seinfeld" Kramer of Sprint. Initially, a doofus. But his bets pay off later. In fact, I have heard that Forsee is working on a coffee table book about coffee tables. Or a rubber bladder system to prevent spills from oil tankers. AJ

I do not quote long posts very often. And I do not "Like" posts very often. I am discretionary, even stingy in both regards. However, this may be Deval's best post ever, thus warrants both accolades. The people who criticize Sprint -- for Nextel, iDEN, SMR rebanding, Clearwire, WiMAX, BRS/EBS, etc. -- need to read Deval's post over and over again. Those people tend to look only at results and through their biased glasses. They do not consider strategies, which may be well played gambits, though they may not pay off always. Sometimes, though, they do. And those strategies also may be long term rather than short term. AJ

We have not run an article on The Wall. I even have not looked at the FCC OET tested figures for the Sprint variant. Maybe we will soon. But someone other than me probably will have to do it. I do not have the time nor energy right now. AJ

Chicks "did" the HTC 10? Man, that must be one sexy, baller handset. AJ

And I hate to say it, but now I am getting intrigued by the HTC 10. I already have the HTC One M7, Nexus 5, Nexus 5X, and 2015 Moto X at my perusal -- the latter three all are SIM unlocked and can be put on my Sprint postpaid main line or my AT&T or T-Mobile prepaid secondary lines. Plus, I have the 2014 Moto X on Republic Wireless, thus running on the Sprint network. I gotta lot of phones. But I have not had an HTC handset since 2013. Should I add to my stash? AJ

Just curious, which HTC 10 variant is that? The Sprint variant? Aside from the iPhone, my FCC OET experience shows that tested RF for most operator variants skews a bit toward that operator. Thus, a Sprint variant unlocked that supports band 4 LTE for CCA/RRPP compatibility might not be optimized for use on T-Mobile. AJ

No problemo. I am just playing with you. But do scan through the SignalCheck thread. The dual signal reporting is a common issue since Android 5.0 or 5.1. It is either a bug or a function at low LTE signal strength. Again, see the SignalCheck thread for further discussion. AJ

Oh my god, is that actually SVLTE? And we have never, ever, not many times over discussed this Android/SignalCheck dual signal reporting before? AJ

Data, you shall not pass. AJ

Do not worry about it. As I posted in the now locked rumor thread, you are not going to find a handset today without international 3GPP capability. You just most likely cannot take the Sprint variant HTC 10 to AT&T or T-Mobile -- because it is not currently authorized for domestic GSM/W-CDMA operation in the US. That is the extent of the purview of the FCC. Industry Canada and regulatory bodies in other countries authorize GSM/W-CDMA operation in their respective territories. http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/7437-htc-10-rumor-thread-was-htc-one-m10-rumor-thread/?p=479336 AJ

I cannot vouch for their efficacy on the Nexus 5X, but others have posted Nexus 6 network selection dialer codes that lock Project Fi to either Sprint or T-Mobile. AJ