WiWavelength

Something happened to your link, Ryan. Regardless, I am glad that you originally included it, as I have been searching for that kind of info for years. I have long claimed that VZW was running interference with the Sprint-Nextel merger, that if Sprint had not gotten Nextel, then VZW would have. But I had unable to find any existing source and started to wonder if I had just dreamed that VZW scenario a decade ago. AJ

At Phone Scoop, I wrote a bit of a stinging post, voicing my displeasure with Rich's and Eric's (none too surprising) lack of investigation. AJ

Ha, what a joke of a reply. My experience is that Phone Scoop is no friend to Sprint, but is Rich really that dense and under informed? Get that man over to S4GRU, posthaste. AJ

by Josh McDaniel Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Monday, April 8, 2013 - 1:19 PM MDT On April 5, the mysterious Samsung SPH-L500 passed thru the FCC OET (Office of Engineering and Technology), indicating that it is now authorized for use in the US on the Sprint network. S4GRU can report only the details that are currently available, but we will update the article as more info emerges. The phone measures roughly 5.24 inches tall by 2.68 inches wide, making it slightly smaller than the Galaxy S3 and S4 and slightly larger than the Galaxy S3 mini that it was originally rumored to be based off of, and comes with a 1.4 GHz dual core processor. As was previously noted from the Bluetooth SIG report in November, this phone has support for Bluetooth 4.0 and the following profiles: HFP1.5, HSP, OPP, A2DP, AVRCP, GAVDP, PAN, PBAP, HID, and MAP. As you can see from the antenna diagram, CDMA1X and EVDO share the same antenna path, so SVDO is not possible, but SVLTE is possible. The phone also supports simultaneous LTE and Wi- Fi tether on 2.4 GHz, but not on 5 GHz. Lastly, it is not capable of supporting simultaneous Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, as they also share the same antenna path. CDMA1X + EV-DO bands 0, 1, 10 (i.e. CDMA1X + EV-DO 850/1900/800) LTE band 25 (i.e. LTE 1900; PCS A-G blocks) LTE 5 MHz FDD channel bandwidth SVLTE support, including SVLTE and simultaneous 802.11b/g/n 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi tether Maximum RF ERP/EIRP: 21.45 dBm (CDMA1X/EV-DO 850), 23.11 dBm (CDMA1X/EV-DO 1900), 23.12 dBm (CDMA1X/EV-DO 800), 22.20 dBm (LTE 1900) LTE antenna configuration 1 uplink, 2 downlink (i.e. 2x2 downlink MIMO) 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi NFC with antenna built into battery According to the HTTP header from cloud4sites.com, the SPH-L500 has Android 4.1.2. SXTPdevelopers.com member “sextape” rumored the specs on the phone to be a 4.65” screen with a resolution of 1280 x 720, 8 MP rear camera and 1.9 MP front facing camera, 1 GB RAM, 8 GB built-in memory, and microSD Card slot supporting up to 64 GB cards. The chipset is said to be the Qualcomm MSM8930AA, which is apparently the same chipset found in the new HTC First by Facebook and HTC. If the SPH-L500 is released with these specs, they are pretty decent for a mid-range phone, considering all mid-range Sprint LTE phones up until now have only had 5 MP rear cameras and 4” 480 x 800 resolution displays. Sources: FCC, cloud4sites, SXTP

Meh, wake me up when I can wear phabletopants. AJ

This is not a good sign, or Phone Scoop is very lazy/limited in its testing area... http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=12067&p=all AJ

lynyrd, please fix your quote/response. AJ

Heh heh heh, you said, "Tata." I realize that Tata is an Indian conglomerate and that names mean different things in different cultures, but that one always gets me as one of the most laughable names out there. Now, I just wish that I could learn more about the Tata Group, hopefully get a good "feel" for two of its divisions. AJ

Indeed. And it could have been a disaster. Prior to the 2008 Upper/Lower 700 MHz auction, AT&T bought up the Lower 700 MHz C block 12 MHz license holdings of Aloha Partners. That gave AT&T an already nearly nationwide footprint and provided it with great synergy to bid on the Lower 700 MHz B block 12 MHz licenses in the auction. Additionally, the Upper 700 MHz C block 22 MHz licenses were divided into only eight REAs for the entire 50 states. VZW set its sights on the whole set and did not waver. Sprint had no chance. The only chance Sprint would have had was for the Lower 700 MHz A block 12 MHz licenses that VZW but most USCC and regional carriers snagged. To this day, the A block is encumbered by adjacent DTV channel 51 in many major markets. Not to mention, AT&T has excluded the A block from its boutique band 17, hurting band 12 device availability. So, someone, go ahead, please try to argue that Sprint would be better off having attempted to acquire Upper/Lower 700 MHz spectrum rather than having firmly secured SMR 800 MHz spectrum... AJ

Wait, there is a wireless nerd who is a "small white dude"? I thought all of you were strapping 6'3" Amazon women, much like myself... AJ

Not exactly. Spectrum wise, Sprint benefits greatly in Chicago but not in St. Louis, which was already set. Both Chicago and St. Louis are/were underperforming markets for USCC, and honestly, St. Louis was probably a rider that USCC tacked on to the sale. If Sprint wanted Chicago, it had to take St. Louis off USCC's hands, too. AJ

I usually do the FCC OET write ups for the flagship and other high end devices. This is more of a mid range device, so MacinJosh is writing the article. In fact, it is basically ready to be published right now. We will likely post it on The Wall shortly as an unknown mystery handset -- unless we know that we can get solid evidence of a marketing name and photo later this week. AJ

It's "too sexy" for Sprint. "...yeah, on the catwalk, on the catwalk, yeah..." AJ

Since we are talking about the FCC OET in this thread, an OEM and its testing lab would not be able to show that a transmitter operates within PCS/AWS-2 H block service rules because those rules have not yet been standardized. Hence, FCC OET authorization would not be possible. The best that you can hope for would be that current panels, though not spec'd for it, can still support the modest 5 MHz FDD extension that is the H block and that current RRUs can be upgraded with new cards or even firmware, which would require then a Class II Permissive Change filing with the FCC OET. AJ

Actually, that is a panel, not an RRU. AJ

So, just to be clear, you would have happily forgone nationwide SMR 800 MHz and BRS/EBS 2600 MHz spectrum for Cellular 850 MHz spectrum in basically Phoenix, Cleveland, Charlotte, Tampa, Albuquerque and a bunch of rural areas that Sprint subs do not frequent? AJ

Josh, your specs are wrong, or your assessment is in error. The traditional PCS A-F block downlink is 1930-1990 MHz. The PCS G block downlink is 1990-1995 MHz. AJ

...plus SMR and BRS/EBS makes six, not to mention, PCS G is effectively a band unto itself. AJ

Meh, no thanks. That would have been a veritable "battle of the bands." And too many bands spoil the network. AJ

Just like Sprint, T-Mobile uses different infrastructure vendors. Some T-Mobile markets are Ericsson, while others are NSN. AJ

The interesting relevance to this thread that had not occurred to me previously is that Sprint's hands may have been tied by its agreements with Nex-Tech and United Wireless. Had Sprint acquired Alltel, it would have become a competitor to its Sprint Rural Alliance partners in western Kansas and, no doubt, lawsuits would have ensued, just as with its traditional affiliates -- Alamosa, iPCS, et al. -- following the Nextel merger. AJ

'Drunk Uncle' on "Saturday Night Live" tonight made fun of your Galaxy Notes. AJ

It sounds like you got a bit of a "Brokeback Mountain" situation... In all seriousness, though, why is your dad a Sprint sub in the first place? In my opinion, that is inappropriate. Please support Nex-Tech, the local carrier that actually built out the network in your dad's county. Or, if you must go with a national carrier, have your dad sign up with VZW or AT&T, which did nothing to build out the area but instead bought out Alltel and RCC Unicel. AJ

But that has nothing to do with unlocking. You probably did not have international roaming enabled on your account. An unlocked handset could use a local carrier SIM. AJ

To sell it as a Sprint device, it does not need to be "unlocked." If your account is current and the handset has not been reported as lost/stoen, then it has a "clean" ESN. AJ