Thomas L.

Interesting, they have had a multi-day outage of their Uverse broadband/TV in several areas of the country as well. I wonder of their half-ass infrastructure is finally starting to fall apart.

Hey Robert, this is the second week there have been no updates in the South Bay. Are we running into the same problems (difficult sites/permitting) that the SF Bay market is running into, or is there something else you might know of?

Thanks for any insight!!

Tommy

One of my favorite things about T-Mobile when I was trying them was that you could have seemless voice and text everywhere that had WiFi. Would love to see that on Sprint.

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

Same here! I know there are a lot of naysayers on this forum who don't think wifi calling is a useful/needed feature, but there are always going to be places where it is more reliable than a cellular signal.

I think even an Airave with PCS LTE is dumb.

 

Sent from my little Note2

Well it's sort of counterintuitive - as far as I know there are no devices that are LTE compatible and not wifi compatible, so it would be a redundant addition, at least until we start seeing VoLTE.

I doubt that the ZTE handset is a particularly relevant frame of reference. This is just speculation on my part, but I bet that FDD and TDD are on separate basebands and that at least one is not a Qualcomm chipset.

 

AJ

I actually thought about that after I posted it and did research about ZTE's LTE products - they don't produce a single dual-mode chip, just separate TDD and FDD LTE chipsets.. Hopefully that's the case!

This article is already a month old, but I never saw it posted here, and I thought it would interest people, as it shows how imperfect the technology still is that will be required for Sprint to integrate Clearwire's 2.6ghz TD-LTE into their handsets. The ZTE Grand Era runs on China Mobile's TD-LTE and FD-LTE ('regular' LTE) networks, but to switch between the two, you currently have to reboot the phone. It's also interesting to see the difference in performance between the FD-LTE and TD-LTE network.

http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/18/zte-grand-era-lte-launches-in-hong-kong-with-dual-mode-lte/

For what its worth and this is recent news to me, when you say the second most used lte band in the world is 2600 you may be mistaken. The 2600 band for Europe and those who follow them is actually an FDD band completely different from the TDD BRS 2600 band used in the US, Japan and China.

 

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

I should have specified that 2600mhz is shaping up to be the second most common frequency for LTE worldwide. The nice thing is that all chipsets being released for TD-LTE will be dual-mode FDD/TDD - they will support both TD-LTE and FD-LTE. You can read about it more here: http://www.fiercewireless.com/europe/press-releases/gsa-confirms-lte-mainstream-145-networks-commercial-service

I thought I major part of Softbank wanting Sprint is the economy of scale having Sprint 2.5 (2.6?) Ghz TDE in all their phones so they would also run on Softbanks network in Japan. They would also sell the same phones to their own customers. I really hope Charile doesn't get far with roadblocks.

Bingo! I think people are underestimating the importance of Clearwire: in my view, the Softbank/Sprint deal was predicated on Clearwire being acquired - the whole point is that 2.6ghz LTE is going to be the 2nd most common band for LTE in the world (after 1800mhz), with China Mobile, the largest mobile provider on the planet, moving towards it, and Son using it for LTE in Japan. I don't even know if Son would find it worthwhile to continue with the Sprint/Softbank deal if Clearwire was out of the picture.

The hotline is nothing... don't let them find out about Hello Kitty Hotel.

 

Ugh stomach ache.

Its so odd. Ive never come across a tmo user who was dissatisfied with hspa+ speeds. What does upgrading to LTE in the markets that already have hspa+ accomplish with customers? I understand the need to say "me too" , but thats about it. I guess this new ceo has studied all the metrics of what his target customer wants and believes their current high speed build out is it. Just means many of us are not their target. I wish I was though!

I think it really is mostly just marketing. It also makes since now that they are going to be merging with MetroPCS and it acts as a common technology between the two carriers. Also, in the long term, LTE is more efficient in terms of spectrum usage, so it makes sense from that perspective as well.

Close, but not quite right.

 

I live on Long Island and one of my lines is a Nexus 4 with T-mobile's $30 "internet only special" 100min/1000text/5GB pre-paid plan.

 

I average 16mbit down 4mbit up and my ping is between 40-80 whenever I test it.

 

The markets that T-mobile "faux-4G" is actually in, it works great.

 

They've also committed to converting every GPRS/EDGE only coverage area over to HSPA+ within the next year, part of the 1900mhz overhaul involves drastically increasing their overall coverage area.

I was under the impression that they had NOT committed to the conversion of the entirety of their GPRS/EDGE only network, that they had in fact made the decision to focus only on areas that were already "3G/4G" to do the HSPA+ overlay and 1900 refarm, along with add LTE. Last I checked they had said they were leaving current GPRS/EDGE areas alone for now. Did they make a change in that decision?

Nationwide? What exactly does that mean, that there are now two spots on separate ends of the US where, were two people to theoretically stand and call each other with the right equipment, you would be able to have an HD voice conversation? Sorry to be cynical about T-Mobile, but their coverage is so incredibly lacking in my experience....

I read, and I believe it was a statement by a MetroPCS exec. BEFORE the T-Mobile/MetroPCS merger, but they said they were going to begin, around the end of this year, start integrating band 25 LTE in devices, in anticipation for roaming with Sprint.

What I woke up wondering about today is what Sprint plans to do about being a little behind schedule. Only a couple months behind on a project this big isn't bad really but there is 3 ways they can handle it going forward

 

1) We're doing what we can. It could slip more.

 

2) We're not going to let it slip more and will finish up a couple months behind schedule.

 

3) We're going to kick it up a notch and make up those 2 months and finish as planed.

 

 

Anyone have and ideas on if they will kick it up and make up the 2 months?

I can't imagine they'll kick it up any more than they already have. They are already mobilizing in markets all over the country, some ahead schedule. I think delays at this point are due to backhaul issues or contractors/birds/other issues out of their control. I don't think they are like, holding back at 80% of what they could be doing, I think they are already at 100%.

What's the difference between clearwires td-lte and the lte that sprint currently uses? Would that complicate things?

It shouldn't complicate things to greatly, as the vast majority if not all LTE chipsets are dual-mode TD-LTE/FD-LTE. TD-LTE essentially divides spectrum in a different way and has requirements that are less strict for deployment carriers (you don't need paired spectrum)

Since we know that part of Mosayoshi Son's strategy with the Sprint and indirect Clearwire acquisition was to take advantage of economies of scale with equipment, it seems likely that removable SIM cards will become necessary to take advantage of that between handsets in the US, Japan, and perhaps on China Mobile's TD-LTE network. What do you guys think the likelihood is of us starting to see removable SIMs in Sprint devices now, and when do you think we might start seeing them? Or am I off in thinking this is a change that will happen?

Tommy

 

I don't think Mr. Son would be keen on the idea. I'm pretty sure he wants TD-LTE 2600 for global scale of economies.

 

I personally would be OK with it...IF...Sprint hosted a TD-LTE 2600 network for DISH' date=' DISH persued hotspot coverage for Sprint like Clearwire and Sprint customers could roam on it for reasonable terms. Because it will take a few years for Sprint to get the S band up and running. Getting LTE approved on it, getting devices starting to be built and a network deployed. Probably take 30-36 months. And Sprint will need a back up hotspot plan in the interim.

 

But now that I type that, it makes more sense to keep Clearwire and its assets. But the S Band is not the end of the world.

 

But no matter what, SoftBank wants Clearwire. Maybe as much as Sprint. I'm almost sure of that.

 

Robert via Samsung Note II via Tapatalk[/quote']

 

The value of having a 2.6ghz band TD-LTE network with devices and infrastructure that would work in Japan, in the US, plus so many other countries including China with China Mobile - that largest mobile service provider in the world, is just huge, absolutely huge, both in terms of economies of scale and roaming. The 2.6ghz band is shaping up to be one of the most important in the world for LTE, probably the biggest followed by 1800mhz, and Son realizes that. I think that Son has some really disruptive stuff planned for the American market, and I'm very excited to see what he has planned.

 

Tommy

The SoftBank deal will go through. There is no reason for it not to. The clearwire buyout might not, there is a lot of investor backlash and the FCC might require sprint to sell some spectrum as a condition for approving the deal. So there is still a lot of uncertainty, but I hope it goes through and sprint retains control of all of the clear spectrum. This would allow them to be a disruptive force in the wireless market and keep cheap unlimited plans.

I think the end result if the FCC gives Sprint any trouble about the buyout is most likely to be them returning their leased spectrum to the educational institutions, etc, that Clearwire had leased it from so they can just retain all of what Clearwire actually owns. As for the investors, well, without Sprint, both as a customer and a funder of debt, they'd be holding stock worth pennies in all likelihood if Clearwire didn't end up bankrupt - they are certainly going to make a lot of noise, it´s expected as they want as much money as possible, but I don't know what would really come of it.

I don't think that they really want MetroPCS, they just want some extra PCS spectrum in markets where they only have 20MHz. So they might make a counteroffer just to scare T-Mobile and make them divest some PCS spectrum.

Exactly. Sprint doesn't need another mess, they just need to top up their PCS spectrum - and realistically, T-Mobile will have so much PCS spectrum post-merger that it won't hurt them to do so. In addition, how would it look to regulators if Sprint went after MetroPCS and Clearwire both? It would really make things even more difficult.

Tommy

Reindeer sled

I wonder how much this is driven by Softbank's desire to build up the TDD-LTE device ecosystem for the 2.6GHz band.

I'm willing to bet it's considerable. The TDD-LTE 2.6ghz band is going to be a huge advantage in terms of economies of scale and eventual global roaming. I think the spectrum is undervalued for its potential in the long term and for small cells.

I don't get it. Engadget says they are trying to get to deal done by about the same time the Softbank-Sprint deal closes, but isn't that just going to make the Softbank dealer harder to get approved? And isn't this going to make it more difficult for Sprint to be able to bid on the H-block? I can only think that maybe Dish was "making moves" on Clearwire or something, because this is just too odd a time for them to be bidding on Clearwire. It is also totally possible that there are other suspicions we don't know about, or Softbank doesn't want to wait, or who knows.

This is an article written by Zahid Ghadialy for Mobile Europe Magazine, who is a wireless consultant and one of the people I follow on Twitter. It's a pretty good overview of LTE-A and the elements that make it up, and he tries to make it "not too technical" (although I found it fairly technical). I thought it could answer a lot of questions for people who were wondering what exactly LTE-Advanced is, especially if you wanted some details:

http://3g4g.blogspot.com/2012/11/quick-introduction-to-lte-advanced.html

I recommend full-screening the slideshare window to read the article, it's just easier!

Tommy

Isn't a big part of the allure of their current network that it essentially already just works for what they need? Besides being a big investment, time and money wise, to upgrade the network. it's a question of proven vs. unproven technology in a mission critical field (in this case a utility, though they also have other customers). Maybe they're waiting for Sprint to deal with all the initial problems and then swoop in when it reaches acceptable maturity. Also, if I understand correctly, one issue is that, even with a complete overlay of LTE 800, the increased fragility of the link will make the effective coverage area smaller. I get why they're being prudent, to be honest.

The only thing I find a little difficult to understand in this conversation is why SouthernLinc would choose AT&T as their nationwide roaming partner, as it seems like it would take a fair amount of effort and money to integrate those chipsets and enable seamless roaming. That said, it's good to keep in mind that, though it's in decline, iDen IS still used in and has been used in quite a few countries, and I haven't checked to see if in those countries iDEN providers have created solutions with GSM carriers that maybe now SouthernLinc could adapt without fully engineering a new hybrid phone. If they are engineering a new hybrid phone, or having Motorola do that for them, what would the costs for that be like? How many units would they have to sell to break even with development costs and everything? I find it all very fascinating.

Tommy

This is a somewhat related but somewhat unrelated question as well: does anyone know exactly how the bidding process happened, that is to say, how the country ended up split between the three OEMs? Did they bid by region, or is there a maximum size each one could handle, or how did it come to be that they decided to split it up? Was maybe Sprint trying to see if, in the end, one provider was better than the other, kind of like testing each one, or...? I find it very interesting they way they did it.

Tommy