JustinRP37

You forgot Optimum

Which is now Altice! They closed on the deal earlier this summer after announcing it last year. http://www.wsj.com/articles/altice-closes-buy-of-cablevision-1466515394

Correct. That was the plan then CEO Ivan Seidenberg wanted to implement. As you mentioned Wall Street didn't like it so eventually he stepped down and Lowell McAdams is now the CEO. Of course he came from the wireless division, and he despise the FIOS program. Luckily I have FIOS here in my place.

It shocks me sometimes to see how Wall Street does not understand technology. I was recently helping someone with DSL and I just cannot imagine dealing with the speeds he was dealing with.

Here's a history lesson for you Arysyn, since I know you'd appreciate it - the New York Telephone Company merged to become Verizon. Verizon controls all the copper lines here, and FiOS is their initiative to replace all copper with fiber optic.

FiOS 'was' their initiative to replace all copper with fiber. Wall Street did not like this plan believing that more revenue can be generated from wireless. Hence we are starting to see them sell off the landline division in many areas and slowing or terminating FiOS expansion in others. However, they did start expanding once again in Boston, but this is most likely due to political pressure. 

I still want to see proof that most of Sprints LTE traffic is on b41. Personally I don't believe it.

 

Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk

Depends on how they measure it. If it is in terms of GBs on b41, then yes I can see it. Virtually every user in NYC is on b41 when outside and the speeds are tremendous. Most apartments would still also have b41 by windows etc. Most major cities are, so in terms of throughput, I could see it.

Interesting article: http://fortune.com/2016/07/29/analyst-sprint-doomed/ but again very pessimistic. I will say though that CAPEX is at an unsustainably low level. Always look at the word choices as well in quotes. I'd like some news on a potential network expansion, etc. I am loving the iPad Pro for how quickly and easily it can change networks without removing a SIM card. I currently have Sprint, AT&T, and T-Mobile all active with very cheap plans. It is pretty cool to see how the networks compare.

Idk how I feel about this. I'm completely happy with my unlimited my way plan that I am out of contract on. If I am forced off it I may look at other carriers but for the moment I won't worry about it until/if it applies to me. But if this is the new agenda, This is understandable to clean things up but it will make some users mad that they are booted off their plans and will look elsewhere and the other carrier will throw all kinds of promos to grab those users up.

Sent from my iPhone 6s+ using Tapatalk

This is exactly why I am waiting before judging Sprint on one good quarter. They have to be really careful because one major screw up and they are toast. I can tell you I would not be willing to pay more based on my recent experience with the network compared to my iPad on T-Mobile and AT&T.

Yeah to be honest, I agree with the Fierce article. I do want to see Sprint able to do without the 50% off promo. The adds they had this past quarter were really not all that impressive given how much they were discounting. I am very interested in the next quarter to see if they truly have righted the ship. Time will tell. I have been with this company through thick and thin, so I am hopefully things will continue to get better.

I think a lot of it is being driven by T-Mobile's earnings call.

 

T-Mobile said that July's subscriber gains are already ahead of sprint's 2Q new users.

This!! It is people taking their gains, but this is a big part of it. T-Mobile posted pretty remarkable numbers today.

The were port positive against all 3 national carriers which is insanely good. They've done more cost cutting and their churn is at a record low. Basically, they're gaining the most valuable customers from other carriers and keeping them.

 

Also no news on NGN. They said they wouldn't give out information on it a long time ago and they still haven't. 

Yeah but this is still pretty scary "The number of total connections amounted to 59.45 million compared with 56.81 million last year, and ARPU was $4/month lower for postpaid and 50 cents/month lower for prepaid. Sprint recorded a net loss of $302 million or 8 cents a share for the period. Last year, it reported a net loss of $20 million or 1 cent a share." from the http://www.phonearen...ditions_id83515 article.

They will have to show improvements in this area going forward which will, unfortunately, mean prices increases. However, with price increases you also run the risk of increasing churn. The reason for the stock shooting up today is because some analysts are starting to see light at the end of the tunnel. I do think the stock will drop back a bit over the next few days. If you believe momentum is building, then if you have some cash for a risky investment, now would be the time to pull the plug (after the next drop). Personally, I want to see them stop hemorrhaging cash while still gaining subscribers. 

I hope they come to Sprint. That's what the company needs, more people..

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Not data abusers. If they come to Sprint they will degrade the experience for others likely increasing churn in the long run. Thankfully Sprint does manage users on unlimited plans on congested sites. Now if they want to come to Sprint on a metered plan, then I'm all for it.

Looks like Verizon just ended unlimited data. Sprint will most likely see a huge influx of subs, I'm just worried they are the wrong type of subs that would slowly deteriorate the network with abuse.

What do you mean ended? Wasn't it done for a while ago? Or do you mean the grandfathered unlimited data?

 

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

http://www.droid-life.com/2016/07/20/verizon-unlimited-data-rip-tetherers/

If they churn, I hope they stay clear of Sprint.

I just took another look at the NV Maps, and no there is no site inside the campus. Fordham U relies on local surrounding Macro sites. 

 

I am near the grand concourse and 177 street. But I travel between Bedford park and 133st on a regular basis and have no issues.

That's great. I do not have issues either normally. Where I live it is perfect. But there are macro sites just off the campus. If I had to pinpoint which site it is, it would be the one on 191st. And come to think of it, they are rebuilding the chillers on the roof so they probably had to disable that site temporarily. That makes the most sense. I should have looked at the maps first to see if I could figure it out. That means I'm most likely getting service from 187st or off Webster Ave. This makes sense as if you walk towards the zoo side of campus the speeds become insanely great, most likely from the Crotona Ave site. 

Sprint did not claim that it was no longer planning to spend $15 billion over 3 years. Sprint issued a lower guidance for this year only due to regulatory issues. That means that when the regulatory hurdles are cleared, spending will increase. Expect to see a jump in FY2017 when many of their expenses actually hit the books.

You cannot look at an announcement just like that. A company would never come out and just say they are no longer going to commit as much money to their future as was once planned. That would be stock suicide in a fragile moment such as the one Sprint it is. Sprint HAS to maintain and instill investor confidence for the stock to grow. If they succeed in instilling confidence, then they will be able to increase CAPEX more in the future. I am hoping that the numbers at the investor call start showing that they are on the right path. If they have a weak quarter, then things could get a bit uglier. I am an investor in Verizon and seeing Verizon grow this strong is exciting yet frightening because I am a Sprint user and love the company. Put it this way, Verizon's profit right now, per quarter, are close to what Sprint is spending for capital expenditures in an entire year. The underdogs Sprint and T-Mobile, have to pick and choose their battle grounds and words very carefully.

Im in the bronx and also have no issues. I think the Fordham U campus does not have a site locally so that probably attributes to the issues. Hopefully smallcells are also installed in the campus as well.

What part of the Bronx? Northern sections around Woodlawn I know there is a major outage as the executive team said something happened with equipment and they are trying to restore service asap. Fordham U does have a few sites around and Sprint is the official carrier to the university. However I haven't noticed any small cells yet. There is definitely a legacy site though, which actually might be deactivated now.

Spend most of my time in the northern half of Brooklyn and in the Financial District and I have the exact opposite experience. I haven't experienced any outages since last winter where it there was one for a few hours. Band 26, while not fat, is still very reliable and I can count on at least 4Mbps down and pings in the high 20's-low 30's when I'm on it.Band 25 is fine and Band 41 is fine as well.

I did not imply it was a city wide issue. And I remember some days ago even you commented on how slow the data became heading north towards the suburbs. The only thing that is frustrating is to get answers you do have to work your way up the ladder with customer service. The problem is in areas where I was getting 5Mbps + in the Bronx, right now I am pulling less than 0.5Mbps, which is why I had to call. Finally after repeatedly assuring them it was not my phone they noticed they had several calls in the area. I actually received a call back saying it was equipment failure in the area.

I will say that at this point Sprint is having major troubles in the Bronx. I do not quite understand what they are doing. I work at Fordham and band 26 is unusable, 3G is similarly unusable. However, band 42 is okay, not great, but just okay. Yes, there are still parts of the campus with no WiFi. Commuting home, LTE is atrocious along the Harlem line until about Fleetwood. I have contacted Sprint and the executive team. Each time they say there is a massive outage but it should be resolved in 72 hours. I am about to call back as it has been 3 weeks now. I am super happy I picked up the iPad Pro though. It is simply amazing how easy it is to change networks with the embedded SIM. I kind of hope this is what the future will be like. 

Oh wow... I don't play but this is good for business. http://www.technobuffalo.com/2016/07/15/pokemon-go-sprint-boost-mobile-promotion-lures/

Verizon to shut down CDMA 1x network in 2019

http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/verizon-shut-down-2g-cdma-1x-network-end-2019/2016-07-13

damn that means they're pushing voice 100% to VoLTE, that's wild

Hopefully Sprint can figure out that roaming agreement with Verizon by then, otherwise they will have a lot less coverage! I've been on them recently about a pretty significant data outage in the north Bronx, Southern Westchester area. They are 'aware' of the major issues there and are working to restore service. I commute through there quite frequently on the train.

I cant believe how good the network has gotten in NYC. I'm almost worried that they will eventually start jacking up prices.

 

The only thing holding them back from doing that is that the network still needs work in a lot of places. 

 

Just came from Astoria and hit this during basically rush hour.

 

http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/a/2030080952

The network still has many holes though. The Metro-North tracks through the Bronx have some of the most congestion I have seen since LTE began to rollout. I have tweeted about it and reported it through the app. That is the only pain point left on my commute. But it has been fascinating to watch over the years. Started out with not being able to listen to music, to then having spotty streaming of music, to full streaming of radio, and now even video is getting better if I need to catch up on news on the way home. Hell last night I uploaded my lecture slides to Blackboard from my iPhone for my students.

You can't worry about capex too much. The product these companies sell is directly correlated to capex spending.

 

Sent from my LGLS992 using Tapatalk

That is not necessarily true. Once the equipment is up on the tower, there is still plenty they can do with backhaul, which could involve just buying more bandwidth. This would not necessarily be expensed as a capital improvement. While there is definitely a strong positive correlation to capex spending, we have to see what happens with the small cells. 

Trip age has a lot to do with falling for hype. The older you get the less you fall for companies blowing smoke up your well you know what. Age has to do with experience and understanding. How can you grasp the process if you aren't old enough to have seen it? The brain doesn't full develop until 25 so of course I put less faith in what some under 25 says. And I am certainly not alone there.

 

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

While it is true that the brain does not fully develop until 25, age does not have to do with success. In fact, I am far more worried about the elders in Congress writing laws on technology than I am about millennials. We have PhDs under 25 for developing their field. Hell, Mark Zuckerberg was 20 when he released Facebook.

Again, talking about more than Sprint. Sprint is the worse carrier to use talking about mmW use in 5G.

 

AT&T and VZ can get their own band, yes, but chances are it'll find it's way in a superset like Band 17. The only special band here is VZ's B13 because they hold a monopoly on it.

 

I know everything published doesn't happen, like CDMA Rev. C. But until someone suggests a better idea, mmW is 5G as far as we can tell, and it makes a lot of sense.

 

Every engineer who has a good understanding of physics are the ones preaching that high band will be perfect for 5G networks. So I do not believe I'm ignoring the physics, especially since a lot of articles suggest that EHF wouldn't be awful for 5G, but instead, very good.

 

B41 doesn't relieve B26 or B41 because it's not block by block like I'm suggesting 5G will be. B41 comes and goes with major gaps in between. It's not a good example to denounce a 39GHz network. That's where small cells come in for 5G, and to fix Sprint's network.

 

I'm a strong believer in mmW because there's science behind it and the entire industry is backing it. I'd be more hesitant if it was just one group suggesting it, but it's literally everyone. It's hard to say an entire industry with scientific papers and engineers backing it are wrong. 

One way to make a stronger argument in academic circles is to put the citations out there. When you say the entire industry is backing it, give a reference or two. That will quiet the naysayers. Likewise when you say every engineer, cite some, it makes for a stronger argument.

I will say that unfortunately science and research only goes so far in this country. Most of the decisions regarding cellular technology will be made  by CEO's to maximize profit and shareholder value. This area is where you are going to get the most pushback with your plan. While engineers and academics in technology may be saying this is amazing technology, it has to be able to either increase profits, cut operating costs, or both for it to be a deployable technology on the national networks. It could be the best, fastest technology in the world, but if they need 10x the operating expense because they need 10x the number of sites, then chances are those technologies will be held back until it becomes more economical. 

Well the point of 802.11ad isn't to necessarily improve your internet speeds but improve your home networking speeds, so for example making your file server deliver 4K video to your set top box faster without a wire.

I realize that, my comment was mainly aimed at the stagnation of ISP technology, but we are still quite a ways away from seeing 802.11ad deployed by anyone other than an major techie. Hell most universities just upgraded to 802.11n within the last few years. Keep in mind your audience here is completely different from the target audience. Most of the people here love technology, but the vast majority of Americans just want streaming video to work, their photos to upload in a reasonable amount of time, etc. 

I know EPB in Chattanooga, TN offers up to 10Gbps

Wow I just looked there prices are not that bad actually. Only $299 per month for the 10Gbps. But alas the vast majority of the USA is under the wrath of Comcast, TWC, Cox, etc. I still can't believe the experimental caps of 200Gb some ISPs are trying to do on even premium level service. With the 10Gbps service from EPB you could use that up in under a minute!

http://www.tp-link.com/en/products/details/AD7200.html

Your next router, sir

And exactly WHAT ISP will support speeds even remotely close to that?

Everyday I commute in and out of Manhattan, and I travel around often so I experience the service in a lot of places. There are good places and there are okay places and there are bad places and some places are merely not excusable. Do I accept this? Yes because I like Sprint and I know they have the potential to be the best, it's in the spectrum. But they gotta focus on hitting upgrades faster. One of the reasons T-Mobile was so attractive to switchers in 2014 was because of the rate of acceleration from UMTS to LTE, it was unlike anything we ever seen before. Sprint has a lot of fiber and microwave in a lot of places so most things are upgraded and solid. But why in 2016 are they decreasing capex when there are still plenty of macros without LTE or band 41? They can't just brush that off!

If you can figure out how to handle the debt load in a market that is slowing down and access to capital is decreasing while increasing CAPEX, well by all means send your resume and cover letter to SoftBank!  Not to sound harsh, but Sprint has been downgraded several times over the past few years. This makes it much harder for them to get funding for additional projects. They have already pulled the magical bunny from the hat multiple times by setting up these leasing agreements. Sometimes you have to make cuts to stabilize before you can move forward. Sprint CANNOT burn more cash and then have the market collapse again. You have already seen how volatile the markets are this year.