WiWavelength

If tri band handset penetration will continue at the current rate of growth and reach 90 percent by the end of the year, then that is good. There is no problem. And typical users do not need 2x CA or 3x CA handsets. Those are for RootMetrics results, for Sprint bragging rights -- to gain back public perception. But any band 41 will provide a great experience for most users. They will not notice the difference between a single carrier and 2x CA. AJ

The notification looks like this: AJ

No, in the Boston metro, that looks to be a suburban area. It probably is a spot with low LTE signal on the macro network, thus one prone to drops to eHRPD. As long as there is at least one band 41 donor cell reasonably nearby, an LTE UE Relay small cell could be just the fix needed to cover, say, a half mile stretch of road and neighborhood. In well deployed markets, most low LTE signal spots are small and sporadic. AJ

I did not know that Project Fi had added the Palm Treo 755p to its compatible device list. AJ

No simultaneous downlink/uplink connection. That is why it is TDD -- Time Division Duplex. Were you not aware of that? AJ

Nearly every one of your recent posts requires staff action. You need to fix your iPhone or Tapatalk double posting problem. Or use a different means to post. AJ

Band 41 does allocate a dedicated 20 MHz bandwidth on the uplink. But it is 20 MHz TDD, not 20 MHz FDD. AJ

Use the market thread. Not a needless new thread. AJ

Did you not answer your own question? It was a 10 MHz FDD carrier -- double the RF bandwidth of a 5 MHz FDD carrier. AJ

First of all, watch your mouth. If you think that I am an "industry inside shill," you are way off base. I am not going to provide you with a citation on data roaming costs. But the info is out there. I have seen it published online and/or in the public record. For example, T-Mobile openly has complained about its data roaming costs. You, too, can find that info. Network operators are required to provide data roaming on FRAND terms. That said, the FCC does not set the data roaming rates. It is a balance between competition and anti competition. To use T-Mobile as an example again, if it could data roam on competitor AT&T at much lower costs, then T-Mobile effectively could be on par with AT&T. Standing on the shoulders of a giant, T-Mobile would have little incentive to build out its own network. In the end, if you are complaining about data roaming quotas because you are loading 30 MB web pages while mobile, that comes across as ridiculous. I have little sympathy for that. Some web pages may be of bloated size, but most people while mobile are not loading web pages that large. You are an edge case. AJ

And that is a legitimate observation. But do you make/receive many VoLTE calls? Do you travel to other markets -- especially rural areas? Have you noticed reports that VZW users have disabled VoLTE or have even been instructed to disable VoLTE? AJ

No, VoLTE does not. That may be your experience. But many others with different locations or different providers or in different markets cannot say the same. So, do not make universal declarations. AJ

Eh, I would not discount -- pardon the pun -- USCC in Des Moines. In chronological order, USCC has Cellular 850 MHz, PCS 1900 MHz, AWS-1 1700+2100 MHz, and Lower 700 MHz spectrum. That is a lot of spectrum, not to mention, low band spectrum. USCC can go toe to toe with VZW in Des Moines. AJ

Some say an issue with band 26 is lack of optimization. Some say it is downtilt for capacity -- not coverage. Some say it is RF limitations of a 5 MHz FDD carrier. Some say it is power limitations due to running dual mode CDMA2000/LTE. The situation is complex and varies from site to site. Honestly, I am surprised by your reports about Jacksonville. Others have stated that the network in Jacksonville has been excellent. So, maybe your experience is an exception, not the assertion. Pun intended. AJ

In Iowa, USCC is equal to VZW and superior to AT&T. AJ

Damn, I was all ready to go skiing. AJ

That also may be to combat the Mexican operators. They are notorious for spilling signal over the border, potentially trying to grab roaming traffic. A border town is a less than ideal place to be for wireless, unfortunately. AJ

Yeah, you were not far off. In our sponsor section, we have maps of all Clearwire sites. El Paso has/had three WiMAX license protection sites. Band 41 also can be added to full build Network Vision sites, but there is no guarantee. Right now, El Paso just is not a priority market. AJ

El Paso may continue to be a pain point. Because of Mexico, Sprint presently cannot run band 26. Sprint lacks adequate spectrum there to run a band 25 second carrier. And El Paso is/was a WiMAX license protection market. You may be stuck with what you have for the next year or so. AJ

And you need not be told this, but if you are committed to your Everything Data plan for the next two years, you may want to utilize those subsidized upgrades, not sit on them. They could disappear with little, if any notice. You have not earned nor banked those upgrades. Rather, Sprint allows them at its discretion. And if Sprint ends two year contracts for all subs, those upgrades evaporate. AJ

VoLTE is irrelevant to Sprint for now. Carefully read my post. See "within the next several years"? No one knows what will be 4-5 years from now. That is why this thread is just pointless speculation. AJ

No. AJ

Guys, this thread is largely pointless -- because it is all pie in the sky fantasy. That is why I am being somewhat sarcastic. The chances of Sprint LTE roaming on VZW, AT&T, or T-Mobile within the next several years are slim to none. Sprint handsets do not support VZW band 13. AT&T and T-Mobile do not support CDMA2000. Game over. The likelihood of Sprint becoming a merged company or going belly up is greater than that of LTE roaming on VZW, AT&T, or T-Mobile. AJ

No, and no. But no one knows the future. So, no again. AJ

What did you expect? Sprint completes a multi billion dollar, total network overhaul, is struggling financially, and is going to maintain legacy plan status quo as a goodwill gesture? With only EV-DO, before WiMAX, with WiMAX, during Network Vision, no matter, Sprint always has worked well here for me. However, if living through Network Vision was that troublesome for you, then you should have left Sprint some time ago. The only person responsible for that is yourself. But maybe you stuck around for the grandfathered "unlimited" data. Well, a few years ago, "unlimited" data meant something on the order of 5-10 GB of usage. That was a lot. Now, it often means 25 GB, 50 GB, 100 GB or more of usage. Somebody has to pay the freight. And if Sprint is not going to force "unlimited" data users off of their contract subsidy legacy plans to higher priced "unlimited" data plans or tiered data plans, then something has to give. That something seems to be subsidized upgrades. You can view that as a "price hike," a price stasis, or a price cut -- it depends upon your individual situation. If you are willing to get out of the grossly overpriced handset racket and not push the "unlimited" data envelope, you can get your price stasis or even price cut with a brand new, mid range to high end handset and a sensible data tier. AJ