WiWavelength

A few seemed vexed that this thread seemingly went off on a SERO tangent. However, SERO, like all contract subsidy plans, is relevant to this thread. Everyone on two year contracts, including SERO, should be prepared for the future -- Sprint will join the rest of the big four in eliminating subsidized upgrades, offering only leasing, financing, full price purchase, or BYOD. And I am sorry, but I do not buy into locally sourced info that two year contracts will remain available much longer. Though that may pain subs who are on inexpensive "unlimited" data plans with subsidized upgrades, those plans have become out of step with present day supply and demand cost structures. Some will cry about their loyalty to Sprint and threaten to leave Sprint if subsidized upgrades go away. Yet, if those on contract subsidy plans want both "unlimited" data and subsidized upgrades, they cannot get both from the other operators. They would leave Sprint primarily out of spite. That would be a juvenile and potentially counterproductive response. But, well, plenty of subs leave VZW, AT&T, and T-Mobile every day out of spite. So, Sprint would be no different in that regard. AJ

I agree to an extent. However, the logic is not all the same. Key differences arise. Sprint openly marketed Framily to everyone. For a time, it was the promoted plan. No, you were not required to be friends or family to join Framily. That is simply not true. Sprint had no way of adequately assessing that. Framily actually made some business sense, since it encouraged numerous subs to stay bonded together to retain their discounts. That helped discourage churn across blocks of up to 10 subs. An intriguing approach. In the end, though, how long did Framily last? Compared to SERO, not long at all. AJ

Well, I will qualify that by saying the bulk of my experience with SERO was when I was one of the most prominent posters in the Sprint section at HowardForums a decade ago. And there was a lot of activity with members hunting and pecking for Sprint e-mail addresses that would work for SERO activations. One e-mail address would stop working for SERO activations, so they would go and find another, then another, etc. I do consider those SERO activations "frauds." They violated the spirit of the Sprint Employee Referral Offer. AJ

When have I been "nasty"? In my post that you quoted, I primarily asked probing questions. Geez, it feels like some people just cannot accept assertive opinions that run counter to their own. Should we always be nice and deferential to each other here at S4GRU? That would be a facade and would not lead to productive discourse. My dislike of SERO basically boils down to three things. Whether intentional or not, SERO became distorted from its original purpose. If intentional, then it feels unfair that SERO was not outwardly marketed to all new and existing subs -- encourage everyone to have SERO. Finally, many SERO subs can be irksome in their demands and/or threats to leave. They want their cheap plan with "unlimited" data and subsidized upgrades -- or else! But the funny part is that if they leave, they cannot get both "unlimited" data and subsidized upgrades anywhere else. AJ

But, sadly, Phyllis from Mulga just died and burned her house down, as she tried to smoke all at once an entire carton of cigarettes in celebration. AJ

What plans? In Alabama, Sprint does not have any regulatory construction requirements to meet -- those already have been met. See the opening few pages of this thread for areas in the western US where Sprint has not yet reached those buildout benchmarks. Now, if you are talking about Network Vision upgrade deployment, that is mostly complete but still ongoing in Alabama and elsewhere. AJ

All good and well, yet that barely addresses any of my questions or requests. But I will elaborate more in the light of day. AJ

How does that make it right? How are double secret discount plans for some random people for no legitimate reason proper? And please show that Sprint signed off on Russ sponsoring SERO for any Joe Blow, that Sprint did not just look the other way, that Sprint was not just incompetent. AJ

No, that is not correct. All reports are that USCC has a roaming data quota -- and Sprint is not exempt. AJ

Maybe I will go back and crunch some alternative numbers for you. But the point is not that the new plans are supposed to be better for you. The new plans are supposed to be better for Sprint. If demand increases or costs increase, prices go up or amenities get cut. Those are just economic facts of life. Let us apply a variation on the oft used "all you can eat" buffet analogy. If you are one of many patron who take advantage and eat far more than the average patron -- especially if you eat far more of the premium items on the buffet -- or additionally if you always use a coupon for a discount -- then you should not be surprised when the restaurant raises prices, limits some of the premium items, or drops certain items. Cause and effect. The hard truth is that Sprint does not want to continue -- or even cannot afford to continue -- legacy plans with both "unlimited" data and subsidized upgrades. Choose the former but lose the latter. Many of the legacy plans were set up during the days of the EV-DO data network. "Unlimited" data did not have the ramifications that it does today, tomorrow, next year with ever increasing usage or even abuse. Sprint has to invest CAPEX in its network to try to keep up with some of the ridiculous data demands. Not only were many of the legacy plans predicated on EV-DO but also many predate the "everyone needs a smartphone" era. That is at least a double whammy for Sprint. "Unlimited" data took into account lower usage on feature phones. And subsidy took into account lower subsidized costs on feature phones. Now, everyone wants a $700 smartphone that many think costs $200-300 -- because of hidden subsidy. I see that you list yourself as an iPhone user. If you want to save money, maybe you should get off that grossly overpriced iPhone train. Flagship caliber Android handsets for BYOD on Sprint now can be purchased outright for as little as $300. Then, the math for the new plans may work in your favor. This is especially true if you are not a heavy "unlimited" data user. You can reduce your plan costs to a lower data tier. AJ

It probably means that -- to an extent. "Reactive" is the opposite of "proactive," so Sprint employees no longer will be allowed to promote or suggest two year contract renewals with subsidized upgrades. Instead, existing subs will have to request them -- at which point, Sprint can react. That does not mean those requests will be approved. Expect that Sprint will tell some accounts that their options going forward are to remain month to month on their legacy plans with no further subsidized upgrades or to switch to current plans with Easy Pay, lease, or BYOD. AJ

That barely would register as a concern. Any MVNOs that are just CDMA1X/EV-DO -- and can we please not use the term "3G" indiscriminately? -- signed on with Sprint at the past or present coverage footprint. If they were not to get EV-DO in coverage expansion, too bad. They are not entitled to it. Furthermore, before and during Network Vision buildout, the MVNOs already dealt with CDMA1X only coverage areas. AJ

Yes, for receipt of text messages, you must define your primary SMS or messaging app. You will need to locate that setting and toggle it to your desired app. AJ

Well, this will be a list that reiterates some inherent disadvantages already stated and adds a few more... Yet another boutique band for Sprint -- there is no band 14 ecosystem. Even another set of low band antennas per sector would be required to support 700 MHz. Construction requirements would dictate that Sprint build well outside of its native footprint. AJ

This is a chicken or the egg type of situation. RAM size "bloat" is a thing, too. It just allows the programmers to be lazy and/or go overboard with memory usage. AJ

No. Just asserting it in an unclear post does not make it so. Go back and read the rest of the thread. It details some inherent disadvantages for Sprint, some inherent advantages for other operators. AJ

The simple answer is that data roaming in the US is expensive. Though costs vary, operators oft charge each other on the order of $0.15/MB. That means roughly $150/GB. At that price, you are not getting your wish of 2-5 GB of roaming data. Not gonna happen. Your $95/mo rate plan that you think deserves more probably would not even cover the costs of 1 GB of roaming data. Up next, the comparison to the UK is spurious. I will not get into the UK geographic size and population density differences -- except to say that if Sprint had to serve only Southern California with twice the population, it would have a killer network. But the greater issue is that you are illogically comparing roaming data allotments/prices in the US to native network data allotments/prices in the UK. To expand upon your example, you are not going to buy a prepaid SIM from Vodafone for $25 for 6 GB of LTE, then go use that as roaming data on EE. And here in the US, if you want about 6 GB of LTE on a prepaid SIM, you can get that for around $25. Plenty of operators or MVNOs offer prepaid plans in that range. Likely, though, they will be limited to native network data. So, that brings me to my next point. If you need more roaming data, port out to the operator on which you are roaming. Or you can stick with your present provider -- and just buy a prepaid SIM from the other operator for your periodic data needs when/where you otherwise would be roaming. I do have one or two final questions. I would not load a 30 MB web page on a handset even on native network data, let alone roaming data. It would be a waste of data and battery, not to mention, probably would take 30 seconds. So, why is your web site homepage a whopping 30 MB? And why do you need to load it while mobile? That seems like a problem of your own creation. AJ

That could be the plan. But other than the infrastructure update, the capacity increase could be limited by how much FirstNet gets to keep to itself. AJ

Almost certain compatibility with already installed band 13 700 MHz antennas would be an inherent advantage for VZW. However, FirstNet band 14 would require new RRUs. So, VZW probably would have to install RF multiplexers to continue to use its existing antennas. Alternatively, VZW could replace its band 13 base stations with dual band 13/14 RRUs. And that might be the gambit, since the Release 8 band 13 equipment is getting outdated. AJ

Yes, Robert is correct. You are incorrectly assuming that, by partnering with T-Mobile, Project Fi gets the entire T-Mobile native + roaming coverage footprint. No, it does not get necessarily the roaming partners. Just because T-Mobile roams on AT&T in some places means nothing absolute to Project Fi, which may choose other operators in those areas. AJ

Won't somebody please think of the AT&T?! Randall could go hungry. AJ

Yes. Besides band 13 and band 14, band 20 (EU Digital Dividend 800 MHz) and band 24 ("LightSquared" L-Band 1500/1600 MHz) have inverted or negative duplexes. Band 24, however, is unlikely to be utilized. AJ

Google Voice integration on Sprint is a thing of beauty. Besides MMS, maybe HD Voice, almost nothing is lacking. The seamless ability to send/receive SMS via SMS or data on the activated handset and to send/receive SMS via data on all connected devices -- secondary handsets, tablets, laptops -- to/from a single phone number is convenience incarnate. That Sprint has this capability while other operators do not is a surprisingly overlooked advantage. AJ

Because uplink of one band cannot be located adjacent to downlink of another band. Otherwise, interference problems arise. AJ

Vince Guaraldi. "Linus and Lucy." AJ