WiWavelength

Sprint may not hold enough BRS/EBS spectrum in Madison to run 2x CA. TDS, the parent company of USCC, holds some legacy BRS spectrum that Sprint cannot use within a 35 mile radius of Madison. So, that limits Sprint to two separate swaths of contiguous BRS spectrum, one 12 MHz, the other 28 MHz. Only the 28 MHz chunk can support a single 20 MHz TDD carrier. Any other 20 MHz TDD carriers would have to be deployed in EBS spectrum, which presently may be occupied by WiMAX. Sprint also may have limited EBS spectrum -- I am uncertain about those holdings in Madison. http://fisci.tech/blog/the-sprint-spectrum/ AJ

Yes, reading is fundamental. Look one post above from several hours ago. Voilà. AJ

I must admit that I did not get the Kevin Fitchard reference at first. Then, I read this Wired article: http://www.wired.com/2016/02/t-mobiles-finally-good-enough-to-put-pressure-on-verizon/ Post Gigaom, Kevin has become an OpenSignal "analyst." I found that interesting. Kevin and I have had personal interactions, even spoken on the phone. He is a fine journalist, but an analyst? Some of us on staff here at little old amateur S4GRU possess wireless expertise in considerably greater depth and breadth than Kevin does. He is a writer, not an analyst. So, I hope that OpenSignal is not his only gig, as I cannot imagine that his responsibilities are substantial. Maybe he just writes up the reports in journalistic fashion. That said, I would not characterize Kevin as a "Sprint hater." Two years in a row, as I recall, he conducted and published personal interviews with former Sprint CEO Dan Hesse. He had significant access to the very top inside Sprint and maintained journalistic objectivity. However, with the demise of Gigaom and the change in leadership at Sprint, he almost assuredly has lost that access, thus no longer may feel any obligation to be objective about Sprint. The OpenSignal report and the tech press articles that followed do read like T-Mobile lovefests. Whether they say it or not, so many of the tech press are GSM lovers rooting for T-Mobile. They will tolerate AT&T -- or even CDMA2000 VZW because of its ubiquity and reliability. But they want T-Mobile to be their frontrunner. And they do not give a flip about Sprint. AJ

I can remember back when Mosaik Solutions was formerly American Roamer. AJ

I seem to recall that there have been some negative reports. At the very least, I can report that I have driven through USCC roaming in Kansas within the last month with my Nexus 5X and have acquired EV-DO but not LTE. AJ

No confirmation yet. Others using Sprint branded devices have reported LTE Roaming+, but no one has with a Nexus 5X. AJ

Not everyone will have a 4K TV soon. Not even close. Heck, current 4K TVs are not ATSC 3.0 tuner compatible. The FCC and broadcasters cannot just screw over most of the installed OTA TV base. A tuner/converter voucher system will need to be implemented. One, the 600 MHz incentive auction has not yet happened. It still may fall flat on its face. Two, even if/when 600 MHz UHF gets refarmed to mobile, that has no effect on the remaining channels below the 600 MHz band. You seem to assume that 4K will be broadcast in greater than the 6 MHz legacy channel bandwidth, thus require multiple RF channels. That is highly unlikely. Any 4K OTA will stick to the same RF channel bandwidth as ATSC and NTSC before it. Congress no longer will allow the FCC to hand out additional RF channels for free -- especially just for 4K. And broadcasters will not pay for additional RF bandwidth. AJ

Trip, that is moving the goalposts. This discussion has nothing to do with Amazon and its general return policies. However, on the off chance that Amazon shipped you the wrong handset or a defective handset, you would have recourse at no cost to you. And I believe I acknowledged that unfortunate business fact elsewhere in this thread. Sprint could close all stores tomorrow and save a lot of overhead costs. Though others feel differently, that would not affect my customer relationship with Sprint one iota. I do not find Sprint stores and their associates helpful. If anything, they are sources of incompetence and misinformation. It is just too difficult or too expensive to educate that entry level workforce on all the nuances of Sprint's wireless business. But I digress. In closing, many of you are missing my point, which goes back to the $36 fee. The grounds for the $36 fee may be purely revenue based. Probably so. However, if you insist upon purchasing and activating in a physical store, then you should pay more -- because you are contributing to those overhead costs. The $36 fee seems appropriate in those circumstances. That is my point. AJ

With Sascha Segan, it is always about T-Mobile... http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2498693,00.asp AJ

No, not if they come to contractual agreements to accept certain levels of interference. T-Mobile has expedited its band 12 deployment by paying off broadcasters. AJ

Any separate BRS/EBS spectrum valuation would be just a ballpark figure. Spectrum value fluctuates with ongoing FCC auctions and other license/lease transactions. AJ

Not in 2016. Not in 2017. Look to a 2018-2020 timeframe -- at the earliest. ATSC 3.0 will require a new set top box/tuner distribution program. We already went through that process with the DTV transition just a few years ago. It will be a few more years before we hit the reset button and do it again. And I realize that with another ATSC standard, it might as well future proof with 4K. But 4K OTA, honestly, is superfluous. Get all 1080i/60 up to 1080p/60. That is a more sensible goal. Interlaced scan no longer has any place in 2016 and beyond. AJ

The FCC is not a detective squad nor a police force. The broadcasters would have to report the interference to the FCC. Maybe two broadcasters have reached an agreement to accept interference from each other. Or maybe the interference comes across the lake from Canada where the FCC has no jurisdiction. AJ

No, not band 12. He likely means co channel interference from outside the TV market or adjacent channel interference from within the TV market. AJ

Staff looks at the different circumstances for each situation. In orangeblue's case, he posted in the WiMAX countdown thread quite recently. He knows it exists, and it is not difficult to find. There is a View New Content button at the top of The Forums -- that is how you properly browse S4GRU for news. The WiMAX countdown thread constantly has been right there on the first page of threads the past several days. Moreover, the most recent posts have been discussing the court ordered extensions. The news hardly was buried in a long thread. Thus, there is little excuse for starting a new thread. Now, as for why the WiMAX countdown thread was not in the WiMAX sub forum, take that up with Robert. He created the thread. But I did move it last night into the WiMAX sub forum. AJ

The OP has posted in the longstanding WiMAX shutdown thread recently. He knows that it exists. People need to do better. When they fail to do better, when they cause a mess that staff must "douche" to clean up, then they deserve to hear about it. AJ

No, I am not confused. For efficiency in this regard, you have to take into account costs. People who require brick and mortar presence or human assistance instead of online self service add to the overall costs for everyone -- unless those costs are broken out in separately itemized fees paid by those who incur them. You are 17. You have all the time in the world. I return to my assessment -- you are impatient. AJ

Be careful with the terminology, as "20x20" is accepted widely as 20 MHz FDD. It has nothing to do with CA. For that, something along the lines of 2x CA or 20+20 MHz TDD is more appropriate. AJ

Nope. None of those "chances" are without recourse. If you buy online and have the handset shipped, you will not be stuck holding the bill for the wrong handset or a broken handset. You ship it back -- free of charge -- and get another one. You are the epitome of impatience. AJ

Bravo, we had no idea of this breaking news... http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/7240-its-the-wimax-countdown/page-22 AJ

If you used an eligible subsidized upgrade online or at Best Buy, yes, that line was subject to an upgrade free. AJ

You are impatient because you are 17. Hopefully, you will grow out of it. If teenagers ran the world, society would crumble into chaos over immediate gratification within a week. Now, if you insist upon buying and activating handsets at brick and mortar stores, you are contributing to overhead costs that all of us end up paying. So, you should respect my consternation. In the past, Sprint has tried charging fees to those who pay their bills in store or who call CS too often -- such as to complain and get a legitimate fee waived as a courtesy. But I do not recall that any of those additional fees stuck, as the public and media reaction was too negative. I like my idea that people who require employee assistance, especially brick and mortar employee, should pay an additional fee. However, those who use online self service for purchase and activation should not. AJ

I have no idea. My last four upgrades/activations over the past three years all have been BYOD. So, I simply am reiterating what Rocket87 posted earlier in this thread. Full MSRP at the point of sale is not supposed to incur an additional fee. Maybe in store activation negates that. Again, that could be your mistake -- going to a brick and mortar store. The employees there want and need to make money somehow. AJ

You stay thirsty for that Dos, my friend. AJ

You must live in Pleasantville. In many municipalities across the country, if you rent an apartment or buy a home but the utility shut off/turn on dates do not coincide, then you are going to pay a fee to start or recommence service. That has been my experience in renting several apartments and buying a home. Current or former Sprint sales associates can chime in, but that $36 may not cover a new contract commission. It definitely does not cover a commission that Sprint pays a third party. That $1 Samsung Galaxy S6 at Best Buy on Black Friday is not really depreciated down to just $1 after only a few months. Best Buy takes some of the kickback that Sprint pays it for a contract renewal and uses it to subsidize some of the cost of the handset. Per current or former Sprint employees posting here, if you pay full MSRP outright, you are not subject to any additional fees. Only full MSRP on Easy Pay gets hit with a fee. So, pay the full freight upfront. Or BYOD. Installment plans are for people who are getting in over their pay grade, buying more handset than they can afford. Why in the world are you going to a Sprint store? That may be your problem. I have bought many a Sprint handset -- but not one at a physical Sprint store in over 10 years. To cut costs, I would rather that Sprint shutter all corporate stores. But that would hurt business. Some people are old fashioned -- they insist upon making transactions at a physical store, thereby imposing brick and mortar costs on Sprint. Those people should pay additional fees. Perhaps handsets both purchased and activated online automatically should have reduced or waived additional fees. AJ